Magus of Dust
by Mr.PurpleBook
Summary: Zelretch saw how the Tohsaka line was able to partially recreate the Jewel Sword. So what would happen if he took the soul of someone who would listen to him and made them have the genius mind of the Tohsaka girl herself? Let's throw that kid into Remnant while we're at it and check on them in a couple of years. Self-Insert as Rin Tohsaka. (DROPPED)
1. Born for Dust

**A.N. So this is based on timemaster40's Don't Be the Tsundere idea of having a self-insert of Rin Tohsaka. This is NOT a multi-cross, and no Magical Ruby either. Just another RWBY/Fate crossover like many others on this site. This is just a muse that came to me, and don't expect to many updates as this is something I'll only be working on the side.**

* * *

Chapter 1 - Born for Dust

-5 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Tukson finally lowered the shutters and finished off closing the shop for the day. It was only this fourth day since he opened his shop in Vale, and sales were… not as bad as he expected. Sure, there were the occasional racists that left the moment they figured he was a Faunus. But Vale was a whole lot better than Atlas and several other villages that come to mind.

Still, even now he made sure to check if the door was locked and his exits were clear. It was after all only a month since he left the White Fang.

At first, he was a bit wary that his departure would be noticed. He wasn't that high up in the chain of command, but he was a well-known person who interacted with a great many Faunus recruits due to his job as a recruiter. Unlike those who went out on missions to free Faunus from camps or fight against Atlas robots, Tukson's job was to gather more members to help aid the cause.

The cause… to help Faunus rights become better, and not just have them treated as lesser beings.

When did it all go wrong? No, he knew exactly when it did. He never knew Ghira Belladonna personally, but Tukson was still surprised when he heard that the former leader of the White Fang was stepping down. It wasn't even a full month before the effects of his change in leadership showed for the worst.

His replacement, Sienna Khan, had immediately changed their stance from peaceful cooperation to full-on war against the Humans. No longer was Tukson recruiting for protests and debates, rather he was drafting fighters and terrorists.

The moment he received the report on how many lives were lost during an attack on Schnee facilities, he immediately packed his bags and moved to Vale. It was a suggestion he got from a young black haired cat Faunus he talked to, about how books were for everyone and anyone to love. Somehow, that simple conversation with a girl who's name he never found out left him contemplating on how he, as a Faunus, could help bridge the gap between Humans and Faunus.

His one regret was being unable to talk to the girl before he ran off. With how the current White Fang is going, he dared not to think about how the little girl was doing in a bloodthirsty environment like that. But he did remember her idea of opening a bookstore in the heart of Vale.

And it was the best idea he ever listened to, even with all the racist customers and the deposit he still needed to pay for the tiny shop he rented. And the loan for the first few batches of books he bought. And the fact that several stores refused him service due to being a Faunus. And…

Tukson's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a loud noise banging and clanging outside. Slightly wary and curious, Tukson pried his fingers between the cheap shutters of his shop window to peek outside.

It was dark and hard to see outside… or it would have been if he was human. His Faunus night vision, however, allowed him to see what was going on clearly.

A young girl, probably ten years old, had collapsed next to a trash can. The lid had just fallen and made the noise that made Tukson investigate in the first place. Seeing that there was no one around and the girl wasn't waking up, Tukson panicked and immediately went outside to check on her.

Having moved closer to her, he noticed that her white shirt was dirtied by the filth on the floor. The girl's eyes were closed, and she occasionally gave heavy breaths. Seeing that she was unconscious, Tukson felt her forehead and noticed that it was too warm to be anything else but a fever.

"Shit." Picking her up in his arms, he immediately left to find a clinic that was still open this time of night. Hopefully, the nurse won't call the police on him for thinking he kidnapped her or something.

}-{

'_Who am I?' _That was what Rin Tohs— no, _Erik _thought the moment s—he woke up. That was what he— she thought?

Grabbing hi—her head, Eri—Rin winced as a flash of pain crossed her thoughts. Thoughts and memories were strangely hard to grasp in h—er head at the moment. Er—Rin looked around to see where h—she was.

She was in a room that was mostly white. Cubbies full of various bottles of what could only be medicine lined the top part of several walls. Several beds were lined along h—er side, and she noticed that s—he was in one as well.

"Am I in a hospital? No, something smaller than that." Noticing that his voice was different, for it sounded too young and too high pitched, Er—Rin frantically looked for a mirror and saw a hand mirror at the countertop across from h—er.

'_What is wrong with me?!'_ Getting out of bed, E—Rin tripped and crashed into the ground without warning. Looking down, s—he saw that she was shorter than she remembered.

Already guessing what was going on, it was finally confirmed once she reached for the hand mirror and saw what it reflected.

The face of a ten-year-old Rin Tohsaka stared at him.

"DAMN YOU, ZELRETCH!"

}-{

Tukson finally groaned once he finished the remaining paperwork. When the kid first awoke screaming something about 'killing that damn perverted Vampire' Tukson somehow calmed her down and helped the doctor explain where she was and how she was brought here.

Tukson was sitting to the side on one of the beds filling out some paperwork that the doctor thrust upon him without warning. Grumbling as he wrote, he listened to the conversation the doctor was having with the young girl - who introduced herself as a Rin Tohsaka - about her health.

"Hm, the medicine seemed to have helped. In fact, your fever seemed to have gone away already. That's a bit strange since I doubt the medicine is that good…" He stared at the reading on the thermostat he took from her.

"As far as I know, it wasn't a normal fever Doctor. It was just a side effect from forcefully opening my Circu— er, I mean my Aura," Rin explained.

"Aura awakening? People usually don't collapse from that," the doctor questioned.

"It's something that happens specifically with my family. My father had a condition similar to me as well, which is how I learned to open my Aura on my own," she clarified.

"Still, that seems to be a fairly risky method. In the first place, you should've at least had your father himself personally supervise your awakening."

"...my father's dead, Sir."

"Oh." The doctor froze from checking out the thermostat he used earlier. "Er… What about your mother?"

"Dead. I'm the last of my family." The simple way she explained it with barely a change in expression spoke to Tukson.

An awkward silence lingered in the air before the doctor painfully tried to change the subject. "Well, I guess I should contact child services for a case like this. Don't worry about your bill. It's all paid for under the Council for those who lost thei— uh, I mean. I'll… shut up now," the doctor lamely finished after seeing the glare Tukson was sending him. The doctor quickly left, leaving only Tukson and the girl by themselves.

"...hey, Tukson. Right?" The girl asked.

"Hm, yeah kid?"

"...what's gonna happen to me?" It was spoken in a quiet voice.

"Well," Tukson pondered over what to tell the girl. "You're most likely gonna be sent to an orphanage. The Council has several of them opened up for victims of Grimm attacks on villages. Usually, kids that end up there are left to themselves though. No potential parent wants to adopt a kid that's carrying potential baggage like psychological trauma and shit like that."

He took a glance at her and saw that she took it pretty well so far. He continued, "And there's the fact that you're too old. You're what? Ten? Only the young kids get adopted and the older ones don't really have much of a future with the already spread thin budget being what it is."

Rin didn't reply and only sat in silence. Seeing this, Tukson thought about another black-haired girl her age, and how he was unable to help her escape the White Fang. Maybe it was guilt, or maybe his brain was too tired from all the events from working earlier that day. For when he spoke, his next words were…

"Hey kid, what do you think of the idea of me adopting you?"

It was stupid the moment he said it, but even then, the girl looked at him with curiosity. Forging on, he continued, "I'm new into town and I recently started up a small bookstore. I'm too poor to hire a part-timer, and I kinda want some help checking on stock and setting up shop. Even if you're a kid, I'd like someone to at least watch the front while I work in the back. It's not like I'm gonna force you to do a lot of work or anything…" He trailed off, somehow seeing that the way he was phrasing his idea looked _really _bad from an outsider's point of view.

"Deal." What he didn't expect was for the girl to immediately accept his offer. Tukson didn't know it, but it was this moment that defined how his life changed for the next few years.


	2. Memory of a Past Life

**A.N. (3/15/20) - I probably should've said this last chapter. I don't own the characters nor the setting of RWBY or Fate/stay night except for any OC's. That privilege belongs to Rooster Teeth and TYPE-MOON.**

**Now, introducing the SI/OC character - Erik - that inhabits the body of Rin Tohsaka. Erik and Rin. E-Rin. ****I now dub my OC... Erin. Kinda sounds like Erik too. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 2 - Memory of a Past Life

-4 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Smoke and clouds of dust filled the air. Every breath he took only allowed him to inhale even more of the pollutants in the air. A sickening cough could be heard next to him, but he was more worried about the iron rod stabbed into his chest.

In this nightmarish situation, he continued to cry along with the numerous other voices begging for help. Everywhere he looked, he could only see others who were either dying or pinned down by some form of debris. He turned his eyes away from a horrible sight, the glazed eyes of a young boy who had grown quiet only a minute ago.

What was supposed to be a normal day for him suddenly took a twist when fate decided that this day would be different. Nature itself helped, for the cause of this scene of destruction was a powerful earthquake that destroyed the foundations of this once pristine shopping mall.

Rin watched from a distance as an observer, gazing on the dying form of her former self. He couldn't see her, of course. After all, this was just a dream. But Rin remembered how she used to feel what he was feeling, the feeling of her blood slowly pooling out of her chest and how she used to wonder why she was able to survive so long only to live those extra minutes in agonizing pain.

How many times had Rin had this dream? Erik, for he was the one dying before her, was supposed to have had a normal day. He had planned to meet his friends to watch a movie to celebrate the past few weeks of stressful tests and other mundane school problems. He was staring at his phone when he heard the first few people scream. The lights flickered, and he was in the underground level looking at a new jacket. Before he knew it, parts of the ceiling collapsed on the floor.

She used to wonder what happened outside the mall, for no way was such a powerful earthquake only limited in impact to this area alone. Her former friends were probably injured or dead, and she had no way of knowing if her past life's family were ever affected directly by the earthquake, if not indirectly affected by her death.

But she knew that it was pointless. Erik had died that day, alone in the dark bleeding out. The past already happened, and after those first few weeks of dealing with the trauma and memories, she had to accept that it was over.

}-{

As she felt the surroundings change, she soon found herself in a new location. Within a black, empty space on top of a large chair sat Wizard Marshall Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. A serious expression covered his face, as he went over the recent events of one dimension's 5th Holy Grail War.

"Somehow," Zelretch said, "...a descendant of Nagato actually managed to recreate my Jewel Sword. Sure, she received help from that Sword Boy and the homunculus' inherited memories of Justica. But still... somehow a miracle came to be." Rin watched her old self sitting in a wooden chair in front of the Wizard Marshall himself. He appeared to be some sort of spirit, with a transparent appearance and an incredulous face plastered on him.

"So let me get this straight," he started. "You're saying that you're offering me the chance to live again, but the condition is that I have to do some research to recreate some magic knife of yours?" Erik asked.

Rin remembered her surprise at the time at finding out that Zelretch was real, and that he wants him to recreate some fancy Mystic Code of his. Erik, the guy who only had a passing interest in the Fate franchise and only started getting into it recently. After having the time to get over the fact that he was dead, he suddenly found himself before the Dead Apostle himself. From first impressions, Erik found out that Zelretch... wasn't that bad. A tad serious, not really expressive. Of course, it could be that he's just in a mood. It was definitely a surprise when he found out that he was called here to be recruited to recreate the fabled Jeweled Sword of Zelretch.

"Why don't you get somebody that actually knows Magecraft? I mean, I can't be the only candidate. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm one of the worst candidates," Erik questioned. And his question was justified. Literally anyone who lived on the magic side of Zelretch's world was probably more qualified to research something like this.

"Well, it's not as simple as that." Zelretch began. "First, I have to find a soul that's compatible with the body I would send you in to inhabit. Then, I have to find someone who's not fixated on conventional thought, and the Magi all have extremely rigid mindsets on how Magic is supposed to work. So I needed someone who thought outside the box," Zelretch explained.

"And you picked me?" Erik asked incredulously. "The guy who's only redeeming quality is that he is passing school with minimum B's and C's." Even back then, Erik was able to sense the bullshit Zelretch was spouting.

"Exactly! You're lazy to a degree that you actively think outside the box to pass with the bare minimum of effort. I worked with hard workers and talented individuals for many decades now, and none of them passed the minimum qualifications I was looking for. So I'm throwing a bone and hoping you'll make something good out of it. I literally have no expectations that this will pan out."

"Hm," pondered Erik. "Well, it's not like I have a choice. I want to live, and you're offering me a chance. All I have to do is work on some projects that you don't even expect to get anything out of. Actually, how are you gonna make sure I'm even gonna hold up my end of the bargain." Hopefully, he didn't use some fancy mind control magic on him.

"Don't worry," Zelretch reassured, sensing the suspicion in the other soul. "I'm not gonna make you my slave or anything. I'm gonna use the carrot and the bigger carrot approach. For every milestone in your research you make, I'll give you a gift. It's not a real big loss for me, but you'll definitely enjoy my rewards."

"I guess I'll do it. I mean, why not." Erik shrugged as he said that. "So, how's this gonna work? I get a body, and then what?" Erik wondered if this was going to work out okay. It's not like he had a big reason to return to life or anything, but it's better than the alternative.

"I found a world that you might be familiar with. In this world, Magic has been taken from humanity in a way so that only a few individuals are able to harness magic. Here, you can experiment to your heart's content with a large source of untapped mana and less interference from Gaia. The natural resources here are also something related to your Magecraft."

...Erik did not understand most of anything he said, but he got the gist of it. "So where am I going?" Hopefully, some nice world where Erik will have the time and resources to safely conduct experiments. Maybe a place like the Pokemon world, or a magic world like Harry Potter after the war.

"Remnant," Zelretch smiled as he answered. "You're going to Remnant."

...what?

"REMNANT! I'm going to _the_ Remnant. Home to a dying race of Humans and Faunus, under constant attacks from monstrous creatures!" Erik cried out in indignation.

"I told you, it's related to your Magecraft. You'll find that you'll thrive greatly there," Zelretch calmly said, ignoring the heated glare Erik was sending him.

"Does that world even have magic? I'm pretty sure that the Gods got rid of magic or something," Erik asked. Sure, there were Ozpin, Salem, and the Maidens. But the Maidens came from Ozpin, and Ozpin and Salem were both cursed by the Gods themselves, so they were not exactly a good example of the average people. There was also Qrow, Raven, and the Silver Eyed Warriors (were they magic?) but they all had some ties to the Gods through either Ozpin or some weird prophecy or legend.

"Mana still lingers on Remnant. It is merely the ability to use magic that was taken away from humanity," Zelretch explained. "Your body will contain a good set of Magic Circuits, so you can process the mana in the atmosphere and safely convert it into prana."

Erik grew quiet for a moment before he asked a question that was on his mind. "Why me?"

"Hm," Zelretch looked at him curiously. Erik continued, "Why me? You can't have just picked me for compatibility issues. I'm literally from a different universe. I ain't no expert in Magic, but I'm pretty sure the kind of work needed to bring me over is going to cost a lot of something on your part. That's a bit over the top for just a simple task like this."

"Heh. See, that's the kind of thinking I'm looking for. Then again, it's kind of obvious that I'm going out of my way." Zelretch seemed amused. "If you really want to know... you came highly recommended."

"What?" Erik didn't know what to say about that. "By who?"

"Ah ah ah! That's probably enough questions." Snapping his fingers, the magic of Zelretch slowly closed around Erik to transport him away, ignoring Erik's panicked actions. Waving his hand, a trunk appeared out of nowhere and started to float next to Erik.

"Here are some materials that'll help you for the next few years. Make an effort to get used to your body quickly, and don't worry about your Magic Circuits or Family Crest. They should slowly open the moment you land. Oh, and try not to pass out in pain in the middle of nowhere."

"Try not to what—?!" A kaleidoscope of colors twirled around him, and Rin watched as her former self was slowly getting absorbed into the light. Rin's mind suddenly seemed to dim as she felt her surroundings slowly fade away along with the disappearance of Erik. Her head slowly felt the effects of exhaustion, and her consciousness started to fade as the dream ended.

}-{

Rin woke up with a start, staring in confusion at the unfamiliar ceiling. Blinking her eyes sleepily, she wondered in groggy confusion why she wasn't in her room. Honestly, it was getting kind of annoying how repetitive her dreams were becoming.

Getting up from the sleeping bag she was laying in earlier, she finally remembered where she was. She was in the new storeroom Tukson got when he bought a new building for the expansion.

Six months have passed since the day Tukson made an offer to adopt her. The first few weeks were awkward, with Rin still getting used to being a girl, Tukson struggling with a start-up business along with taking care of a kid, and various other problems that life threw at the two of them. The two had lived in a tiny apartment that was directly above Tukson's bookstore, which was just a tiny place at the time as Tukson had just opened a few days before Rin came.

Eventually, Rin found herself slowly getting used to life with her new identity and getting herself adjusted to her new life. Tukson was extremely patient with her when she first started working, and life slowly grew from there. Tukson finally grew stable enough to switch from renting to actually owning a larger shop, and Rin asked for a room for her to practice her 'Semblance' in private.

Tukson still didn't know about her Magecraft, and Rin was conflicted about how she was gonna tell him. There was no Mage Association or anything similar she had to worry from, but the forces hidden in the shadows that fought over Magic were probably too much for the old-timer to know about. And she definitely didn't want those forces to know about the trunk Zelretch gave her, which held various books and tomes about the different branches of Magecraft.

Plus, Tukson still hasn't told her about his past in the White Fang yet. In fact, he didn't even tell her he was a Faunus until after a _really_ annoying customer shouted off a couple of insults in the middle of his shop.

That was the day Rin found out she could use hypnosis to do some... amusing things. Without Tukson knowing of course.

"Hey, Rin!" The sound of Tukson's voice boomed as he knocked his fist on the door. "You awake yet? The store's not gonna prepare itself. Help an old man out, will ya?"

"Coming! Don't knock down the door waiting, I'll come out soon." Rin quickly began to clean up last night's experiment, storing her latest work in a sealed container. A crystallized form of Fire Dust with modifications using her Magecraft. It either made it so that using it would create a vortex of fire... or more likely, a bigger explosion.

Yeah, she was gonna make sure the container was on _reaaaal_ tight. Don't wanna pull a Weiss there.

"Are ya done cleaning yet?" Tukson asked as Rin hurridly came out the door in a messy manner. Rin only glared at him, but it looked more like a pout on her childlike face. She quickly patted down her clothes and the two walked to the front of the store.

The two spent the next hour cleaning and preparing for opening hours. The two joked at each other while they moved books and swept the floor. Outside, a banner sported the words "Grand Re-Opening! Limited-time deals!" that was placed there by Tukson earlier that day.

Rin wondered how life turned out like this. Six months ago, she was dealing with the stress of dying, changing genders, and getting used to her new guardian. Now, she was joking around while she helped Tukson prep like the past few months. Her thoughts were interrupted when the doorbell jingled. Facing the customer, Rin gave off a practiced smile and turned to face the visitor and start off the day.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun. How can I help you?"


	3. A Parent's Job

**A.N. (3/22/20) - New chapter. Hope everyone's safe and cozy with all the craze due to the Coronavirus. Stay safe.**

**Dates are always screwy in RWBY. Just letting you know, Erin is around 11 to 12 years old right now (I'm being vague on purpose). I don't know how old Tukson is, but I'm guessing he's in his early 30's. The plot doesn't start until another 3 years (I may change this statement to accommodate any future chapters) leaving Erin to be either 14 or 15, around the same age as Ruby.**

* * *

Chapter 3 - A Parent's Job

-4 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Rin groaned after the last customer left the store, leaving the bookstore empty for a moment. Her head collapsed on the counter, and Tukson gave a little chuckle seeing the exhausted expression on her face. The two of them were swarmed with customers on their first day open in a new store. Tukson saw plenty of his regulars come visit and to give their congratulations, while new faces stayed long enough to find at least one item they liked before leaving.

"Tukson, when you bought a new store with the funds we saved, why didn't you upgrade this shitty POS system too? It still has that problem where it gives off two copies of the receipt," Rin complained.

Tukson turned to hide the smile on his face. Rin was usually a polite and attentive young girl who was great at dealing with others. When no one was around though, she showed her real colors and was actually an extremely lazy and snarky girl. It took about a month for Rin to warm up around him to let him find out about that though, but he kinda guessed it from how she acted in the mornings.

"I already sent an order to a local company. It'll be a week at least through until we change anything, so try to endure until then." Rin gave another groan and Tukson laughed as he walked into the back to get some more books to refill the shelves.

It was... nice. After his time in the White Fang, Tukson never expected to get along so well with another Human, much less _adopting_ one. But Rin never seemed to care about the fact that he was a Faunus, even when she sometimes faced some derogatory comments about being a 'pet of an animal' from some of the more extreme customers.

Funnily enough, they never seemed to come back afterward.

Honestly, the hardest part about adopting the young girl was acting as a parent. He had to endure the struggles of getting the proper items for a young lady, filling out the proper paperwork for adopting her, all while trying to warm up to the said girl who was obviously dealing with some trauma from her past.

But this relationship took two to tangle, and Rin made sure to take the reins and ensure that this new relationship of theirs was going to work. Slowly, they grew close until they were comfortable enough to affectionately call each other "Kid" and "Old Man" to each other's faces.

There were still secrets between them though. Tukson had his past with the White Fang and was technically a criminal on the run from both authorities _and_ terrorists. Rin had her secret thing that she did with her Semblance and the experiments she conducted when she thought Tukson wouldn't notice. Like those burn marks he found one day under the couch, or when he sniffed out tiny particles of Dust he occasionally smelled from Rin. That was one of the reasons he agreed to her request for getting a proper room to work in.

Of course, he didn't pry, and neither did she. The two were close and cared for each other, that he knew. Still, they weren't ready to reveal all their secrets yet.

"By the way, how's that book of yours going?" Tukson asked. He was still surprised at how she suddenly decided one day to try and publish her own story.

When he asked what motivated her to do so, she flippantly replied, "My paycheck isn't enough to cover the costs of my experiments."

Ignoring the fact that she admitted to conducting experiments in what was most likely their apartment at the time, Tukson thought it was just a phase she was going through. When she gave him the first draft though, his eyes nearly popped out at how interesting her story actually was. There were still some problems with how her world-building worked, as it seemed to take place in a fictional alternate world. But the majority of the story was attention-grabbing enough.

"Great! I fixed most of the errors you pointed out. I'm pretty sure it's ready to publish," Rin excitedly replied. Oddly, Tukson was pretty sure she was more excited at the potential sales figures rather than how her well-received her story was going to be.

"Yeah. I'm not really that into the fantasy genre, but that _Harry Potter_ story of yours is absolutely amazing."

"Come on! I already told you that I didn't come up with the idea. It was a story from where I came from, and I'm just reintroducing it so that I can get some Lien on the side," she complained. She always did so whenever he implied that she was taking credit for the work, even if Tukson wondered if there really was an author that wrote this story but never seemed to have published it.

Maybe he should worry that Rin never seemed to worry that she might get in trouble from the creative liberties involved, but Tukson had a morbid guess that there probably wasn't anyone that was alive to complain.

"Oh yeah! Hey Old Man, I got the mail this morning and left it on your desk. It looks like some papers from the Council, so you might want to check that out later," Rin yelled from the front. Tukson thanked her back before going to the said desk and seeing the unopened envelope in question. Removing it from underneath a pizza ad, Tukson ripped the seal open and took out the contents to read. Reading it, Tukson groaned as he finally knew what the paper was going on about. Knowing Rin, she was not going to be happy once she hears the news.

}-{

"This isn't what I asked for. I'm not really interested in love stories," the man placed the book back where he got it from, but did so in a rough manner.

Rin wanted nothing more than to irritably retort that the customer didn't exactly specify what he wanted. All he said was that he wanted an interesting story to read. She had led him to their current top sellers and gave a brief summary of what each book was about.

She really wanted to say her true thoughts. But she didn't. Instead, she channeled the full spirit of a Japanese citizen and gave a polite smile as she let him to another part of the store.

"I apologize for that. Here, why don't we check out a few of our recommended award-winning novels? They have a diverse range of genres to choose from." Turning her back to him, the unaware man did not notice the barely concealed face of frustration that covered her face. _'Come on, Rin. He's just another customer. Just keep working for one more hour, then you can take up Tukson's offer to have a break.'_

Why did she have to live with the man that dealt with customer service daily? Both Erik and Rin, while able to talk to strangers, were never really the social butterfly. She could put on a polite mask and interact with others, but that didn't exactly let her prepare for the sheer stupidity of dealing with morons sometimes.

Taking her time to deal with the man, she was finally free when he left holding a copy of the latest issue of _X-Ray and Vav_. She kind of wished she let Tukson take care of the customer instead, seeing as he would have been the more likely person to recommend the comics to the customer than Rin would.

Speaking of which, where was Tukson?

"Hey, Tukson!" Rin wandered to the back, spotting Tukson immediately. He was doing some strange dance while his face morphed along whatever thoughts he was having in his head. It didn't seem like he heard her, so she called out again in a louder voice.

"Tuckson! Quit trying to sneak a break and get your ass out of here," Rin shouted, finally snapping Tukson out of his thoughts. She rarely used such vulgar language, except when she was with Tukson. It was just her letting loose once in a while and channeling her inner Erik.

"Rin!" Tukson squeaked. Rin raised her eyebrow, and Tukson frantically hid the letter he was reading behind his back. Noticing her line of sight, he quickly spoke to try and attempt to distract her. "Oh, are you here about your break?"

"That's not for another hour. Forget that, what are you hiding?" Rin demanded. Honestly, Tukson should have known better by now that he should just give up when she acted like this. It didn't help that she was most likely going through puberty right now. By the Root, she hoped she wasn't. She did not need the hormones or the emotions or even... periods. She shuddered at the thought.

_'Note to self, get some books on Sex Ed,'_ Rin mentally filed away the thought to deal with another day. Like hell was she going to get Tukson to give her the Talk.

"N-Nothing!" Tukson seemed like he was trying to find a good enough excuse. "I, um, j-just got a warning f-from Internal Revenue Service a-about tax evasion."

"Bullshit! I do your taxes," Rin stated. And she did, making use of the knowledge from the STEM courses Erik took and putting them to good use. Tukson had admitted that while he got a decent education, he liked reading more than calculating. It didn't seem to bother him that the ten-year-old girl he was taking care of was helping do his taxes with him, nor the fact that she was smart enough to do them.

"T-The bookstore is being repossessed," Tukson continued to give excuses, bad ones too.

"We literally just bought the building."

"I-I found out my sister got pregnant," he said with a straight face.

"You're an only child. You told me that a while ago."

"I found out _I'm_ pregna—" Tukson got no further as Rin interrupted him.

"Tukson! Ignoring the physical limitations for you to give birth, you got a letter from the Council, not the Vale Hospital." Ugh, Rin started to massage her head at Tukson's idiocy. Seriously, she sometimes wondered who was the child sometimes. What happened to her decision to live her second life as a proper child, playing and not worrying about idiotic guardians?

Oh god, she was turning into Shirou.

"You know, Tukson. I've been experimenting with my Semblance recently," Rin said while raising her hand. "And I just worked out a nifty little trick. I call it Gandr, and basically, if it hits someone it makes them extremely sick." A ball made of black and red energy started to form at the tip of her index finger. "So either you show me what you have in your hands before I fire this at you, or else—"

"Alright, alright! I give!" Tukson sighed as he lifted his arms and gave her the letter. Dismissing the spell, she gave one last glare at the man before snatching the object out of his hands.

Reading the paper quickly, she didn't see what was wrong at first. It seemed to be related to some of her papers of adoption, making sure the information was right. It wasn't until she read the line near the bottom...

_-A recent investigation by child services has shown that your child is currently not enrolled in any academic institution, nor has she made a claim for homeschooling or filed any records of prior education. If your child's truancy status is not __rectified before the date of...__-_

Rin tore her eyes away from the paper and looked at Tukson, who was whistling innocently to the side. Seeing that she was done, he sheepishly scratched the back of his head and prayed to whatever Faunus God existed that she wouldn't be difficult.

"So... Rin. Guess you're going to school. You know, I heard there's this place in Patch called Signal—"

Rin groaned and blamed this on Zelretch somehow.


	4. School Life

**A.N. (3/29/20) - Fricking finally! I'm done with Finals. Now I have time to sleep... Zzz... or not!**

**I'm trying to rush the story to reach the events at Beacon. That's why I'm skipping a few months at a time. If any of you paid attention to my profile page, you might have noticed that I've been rewriting and scrapping a couple of chapters. I still have the chapters, and I'm gonna post some of them as side stories later. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 4 - School Life

-3 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Rin was a horrible morning person. O-Rin (Original Rin) was also a terrible morning person. Erik, while trained out of the habit due to his college lifestyle, was also a person who hated getting out of bed. These personality traits of the two of them compounded on each other, creating the worst wake up ritual for Rin to bear.

Five alarms, going off between two-minute intervals after the last. After the last alarm goes off, Rin is thoroughly annoyed enough to get out of bed, feeling the cold floor with her bare feet, then quickly searching through her sheets for the socks she unconsciously peeled off during the middle of the night. Then, picking up her scroll, she sets _another_ alarm to go off in ten minutes, before she goes back to sleep.

Kinda awake, but still sleeping in bed, she doesn't get out until the alarm blares again. Then she reluctantly walks to the bathroom sink and spends ten minutes just staring at herself in the mirror. After brushing her teeth, brushing her hair and tying them up, wiping her face, changing her clothes, yadda yadda yadda she walks out her dorm room finally ready for the day.

And even then, this was _still_ better than how Erik woke himself up in the mornings.

Several months of this type of lifestyle have passed now. Rin had taken it upon herself to move to the school dormitories so that she wouldn't have to fly on a Bullhead every time she wanted to go to school. During the weekends though, she moved to Vale to live with Tukson for the weekends.

She continued to work at the bookstore though. Other than using it as an excuse to hang out with Tukson, she still got paid and had the choice of the first pick on any of the new books. It wasn't like Rin had much else of a choice for entertainment.

Seriously, the CCTN is horribly underdeveloped in website variety. There were barely any websites other than academic periodicals, social media was still in its infancy, and the few video sharing websites similar to YouTube were only whatever recordings Huntsman and Huntresses filmed on their Scrolls. And other than the CCTN, there were only arcades and video games. The video games were a weird anachronism between retro pixilated characters and hologram handheld controllers, so they weren't as appealing as Rin thought. And Rin was a frugal person who would never find herself caught up in the arcade's trap of taking every coin she had.

"Hey, Rin!" A cheerful greeting came from someone to her left. Rin had collapsed face-first onto the desk the moment she walked into the class, so she didn't see who it was at first. When she lifted her head, she found herself staring into a familiar pair of silver eyes.

Yup, Ruby Rose had greeted her for the day.

The two of them often found themselves talking once in a while. While Rin wouldn't consider them close friends, the two partnered with each other in class often enough to say that they were close acquaintances. Surprisingly, Ruby wasn't that great in Combat Class. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she's one of the worst fighters her age, which often resulted in no one wanting to pair with her. But once Rin thought about it, this was probably since at this point, Ruby has not learned how to use a scythe yet.

Rin offered to pair with the lonely girl once in a while, which is how they knew each other. It's not like Rin couldn't find herself befriending the young girl. However, Rin found that there were some... complications if she ever tried to do so.

"So, I heard that you got into another fight with Yang again." The girl leaned in and asked in a quiet voice, "Did the two of you really destroy two classrooms in a Dust explosion?" Ruby asked excitedly. Rin groaned in her desk again. For Pete's sake, it was an accident! What does a girl have to do to let everyone know that she didn't mean to destroy school property on purpose?

Honestly, Rin wondered again how she ever got off on the wrong foot with Yang. As far as she could remember, she didn't exactly provoke the blonde brawler in any way. In fact, Rin could faintly recall Yang initiating their first fight on the first week Rin transferred here. Was Fate telling her she was cursed to always have a blonde rival? Is Yang gonna be the new Luvia?

"No, Ruby. It was only one classroom... and it wasn't my fault. Someone had left their Dust kit out and a lot of Burn Dust went off by accident." Not that she was gonna let the young girl know that it was _her_ Dust kit that was left out. She had to do her experiments somewhere, didn't she?

"Speaking of which," Rin suddenly thought. "Where is Yang anyways? I haven't seen her in any of my classes yet."

Ruby took that moment to look to the side with a sheepish look on her face.

"Yeah, about that..." Ruby tried to find her words. "She said something about going on 'A journey to discover herself' or something, and told me to tell Dad that she was skipping school for the rest of the week." Ruby awkwardly laughed at that, while Rin looked incredulously at her.

"Well... I suppose I could use the peace for a few days," Rin commented. The two stared at each other awkwardly for a moment, before the Professor up at the front called the class to session and Ruby moved to her seat.

Rin's school life was... kind of boring. Rin went to the same boring classes she went to every day and did the annoying boring homework every night. Well... most days. Since inheriting Erik's memories of college life, Rin found a new appreciation for classroom syllabuses. Mainly, the tardy and grading policy.

So Rin may or may not have cut class a few times, or skipped classes on days she knew the teacher wouldn't notice or take attendance, or found herself not bothering to do some of the homework cause it wouldn't hurt her grades much. This was probably due to Erik's influence leaking through, letting Rin think that barely passing is good enough while she worked on her personal projects.

She wasn't here in school because she wanted to, and she definitely didn't want to waste her time when she could be doing better things. Besides, Rin had already read ahead of most subjects so she wasn't missing much.

Why did Remnant even have compulsory education? Apparently Rin found out that as long as you were part of the Kingdom, any underage kids had to go through the equivalent of a High School education. Most of the villages and settlements that were part of the Kingdom's jurisdiction enforced this, so it's not like it's only the Capitals that had compulsory education.

Signal Academy was a Hunters Preparatory School, and it was technically a private and not a public school. The 'technically' is because while Signal was a Hunter Prep School, it also acted as a general school for non-combatant students. Only students in the general education classes had to pay, while the costs for Huntsman/Huntresses-in-training were subsidized by the government.

Honestly, Rin initially planned to just test out immediately and graduate early, but she wanted to study a bit more for a while. Besides, it's not like Rin could have guaranteed she would have succeeded anyway. Unfortunately, she found out that many of the subjects' contents taught here were simply different from what she knew about. Chemistry and Physics were totally different, which made sense due to the inner workings of Dust and Aura. Biology became a whole lot more complicated once Faunus was involved. History was a headache for Rin, due to obvious reasons. Math was similar, but various theorems and laws were either named differently or not known the same way as Rin knew them.

So while Rin wasn't struggling due to her inherited knowledge, she wasn't able to just blow off her classes and pass with good grades. She can probably graduate early, but not immediately.

And that led to her second plan and her goal while attending Signal - to convince Ruby to graduate two years early and go off to Beacon the legitimate way. This plan was the entire reason Rin even took Tukson's advice to transfer here. Rin had no qualms that the girl wasn't smart enough to do so. Just looking at the complicated blueprints for her Weapon's Design project showed the girl's natural genius in mechanics, even if she currently wasn't that great in combat. The reason Rin wanted Ruby to graduate early was that Rin had no guarantee that the events of the plot were guaranteed to happen in this life. If Ruby wasn't there to stop Roman Torchwick from robbing a certain Dust store on a certain day, then she might not get noticed by Ozpin and find herself accepted into Beacon early.

Okay, maybe she might have with Ozpin's interest in Ruby's silver eyes. But it's not like graduating early will hurt the young girl. God knows the girl needs some confidence in her skills once she reaches Beacon.

There's just one problem... how do you convince a teenager to do more work for school?

}-{

Ruby Rose was walking down the hall looking for one of the restrooms.

It was evening, and Ruby had just finished tweaking some parts to her big project. It was something she was working on for the past few months. It wasn't uncommon for Ruby to spend hours after school at the school workshop with her Uncle Qrow to go over her design for her weapon, but this was one of those rare times Ruby worked in the workshop alone. Her Uncle Qrow had to leave to watch over Yang after Ruby told her Dad that Yang was skipping school for a while. Yeah, telling her Dad that Yang had jumped ship without warning him in person really wasn't a pleasant thing for Ruby to go through.

It was worse because Ruby and her Dad knew why Yang wanted to skip school. Ever since all those years ago when her Dad told Yang that her birth mother had abandoned her, Yang had been obsessed with trying to find out where she was. Knowing Yang, she's probably heading off to Vale to look for information on her mother. Dad said not to worry about her, and that he'll have Qrow watch out for her in secret, but Ruby was still worried.

Hopefully, this isn't going to be a reoccurring thing. Yang may know how to handle herself, and she was smart enough to take the hit to her grades, but Ruby still cared about her. Also, Ruby mainly talked to Yang at school, so it was kind of a bummer that she had no one else to talk to.

Sure she had friends... kinda? Honestly, they were more Yang's friends and Ruby kinda barely hardly knew what to talk to them about. She loved to talk about weapons, and they loved to talk about boys and music and clothes.

Well, Ruby still has friends her age. Sometimes she talks to one of Yang's friends' siblings. And then there's her lab partner Rin.

Rin's... complicated. Honestly, Ruby kind of found Rin to be strange. On one hand, she's super well known and is really popular among the students for being the rebel smart student who skipped class but still had good grades. On the other hand, she's also known as the unapproachable school idol. Everyone who wanted to talk to her found it hard to talk to her due to the strange aura (not Aura like the energy, but the atmosphere) she emitted. It was like she didn't want to talk to anyone.

Or at least, that's what Yang said. Ruby never had that problem, but that was probably because Rin was her lab partner in class. It'd be kinda weird if you couldn't communicate with your lab partner. She liked talking to the other girl because Ruby figured that Rin was also probably socially awkward like she was.

But... she gets into fights with Yang a lot. It's always over the silliest things too, like who's better in Combat Class or who got better test scores. It's stupid cause they're not even in the same year or classes! This made Ruby felt conflicted about wanting to be friends with someone who didn't seem to like her sister.

But hey, it's not like it's impossible. Maybe once Ruby befriends Rin, she can make Yang and Rin make up somehow.

"Finally!" Ruby finally found one of the school restrooms... closed and unusable to everyone. Ruby rattled the door handle for a moment, but it didn't budge. Ugh, what's with this timing! Ruby _reaaally_ needed to use the restroom, due to the two cans of soda she drank while she was alone. Hehehe, no big sister or overprotective guardian - how could she resist the opportunity. Still, Ruby was regretting it now that she couldn't find a place to relieve herself. Looking at the other door, she thought about it. Maybe...

"Nope!" she exclaimed. She's not that desperate that she would use the boy's restroom. But let's just check if it's unloc— nope! Also locked! Let's just look for another bathroom.

...

...

...

"WHY ARE ALL THE BATHROOMS CLOSED!?"

Ruby had walked from bathroom to bathroom, and for some reason, all the bathrooms were locked up. This was the first time Ruby had to stay late after school, so she didn't know that it was school policy to lock bathrooms once classes ended. At that point, Ruby was really feeling the need, and she was getting desperate.

As she was zipping around, Ruby saw an area she never passed before. It was the student dorms of Signal, for students who moved on-campus to have their education. Ruby figured that there would either be a public restroom for everyone so she quickly ran towards the dormitories.

"Come on, come on, come on," Ruby muttered under her breath. Ruby was _reaaaaally_ at her limit now, and she didn't know how much longer she had. And as she arrived through the entrance, she saw a map. "Where is it, where is it," looking through the map as quickly as she could. There!

Rushing down the hallway and passing by various student-lent rooms, she finally came upon... another closed bathroom! This time, it was 'out of order' or something like that.

"WHYYyy?!" And the boy's restroom was on the other side of the building., but she was at her limit. She couldn't run anymore, else she would lose her control. Ugh! What else could she—

...swallow your heart, Ruby Rose. Just ask before the embarrassment becomes even worse. Ruby resolved herself and knocked on the nearest door.

The door opened, to reveal a female student she didn't recognize. Quickly, Ruby spoke, "Hi, my name is Ruby Rose and I—" the door slammed into her face. Well, that was just rude! Knocking frantically on the door, Ruby yelled out in a desperate voice. "Please! I just need to use your restroom! I can't make it to the other side-ide-ide."

"Ruby?" Ruby turned her head to see another door open, with Rin poking her head outside. Waddling quickly to her, Ruby begged with all her might. "Rin! Oh, thank God! Uh, you see... I kinda drank too much. And then I ran around looking for a restroom, but for some reason, they're all locked up, and I reallyneedtouseyourrestroompleaseletmeuseit."

"...what?" Rin asked again.

"PLEASE LET ME USE YOUR RESTROOM!" Ruby all but yelled at that point.

"Oh? Oh! A-Ah, go ahead. Just watch out, my room is kinda—"

"You're my savior!" By that point, Ruby dashed in before Rin could finish her sentence. Spotting the room immediately, Ruby slammed the door shut and did what was needed.

"Aaahhhh~"

}-{

Rin was still standing at the doorway trying to process what was going on. She was just turning off the stove when she heard some loud noises outside. Upon finding Ruby in the student dormitories of all places, Rin had to ask what was going on.

Somehow, Rin wasn't expecting the girl to beg to use her restroom right when she was about to have dinner.

_'Why is Ruby even still in school this late? Shouldn't she have gone home with her Dad by now?'_ Ugh, Rin didn't want to think too much about why this was happening. Just then, she heard the flush from the toilet and the sound of the sink being used. Rin closed the door and walked in just as Ruby came out of the restroom.

"Thank you soooo much, Rin. You saved m—" as Ruby was speaking, she finally realized where she was. And then she noticed what the room looked like.

Rin couldn't blame the way Ruby was eyeing her surroundings warily. Her room was... strange after all.

There were several boxes stacked up filled to the brim with various books. The coffin-shaped trunk Zelretch gave her laid in the middle of the room, which was already a strange sight by itself. Not for the fact that it was open and there were a bunch of strange alchemical ingredients showing at the moment. Various Dust fragments littered Rin's desk next to Rin's schoolwork, and the entire wall next to Rin's bed was littered with runes and other drawings that would have looked like nonsense to another person.

Evidently, Ruby thought so too when she looked at the wall. Ruby looked around the room in amazement, and Rin coughed to hide her embarrassment. "So, Ruby. You - erm - you're okay now?"

"Oh!" Ruby's face flushed with embarrassment. "Yeah, thanks for the save." Ruby continued to look at the strange sights in Rin's room.

"Well, I guess it was an emergency for you." No kidding. Rin and probably the rest of the building heard Ruby pounding on her neighbor's door.

"Y-Yeah... I kinda had too much to drink on my own." Ruby looked to the burn marks that seemed to mark various parts of the floor.

"I'm surprised you're still at school. I thought you'd had gone home with your Dad by now."

"N-No, I usually stay behind after school ends to work on my weapon." Ruby tilted her head the other direction to see the giant stack of boxes filled with books.

"Eh? This late!"

"N-No!" Ruby turned her head back to look at Rin. "I just lost track of time, since usually, my Uncle stays after school with me." Then she started to observe the room again.

"Oh..." and then the room became awkward, with the two standing in their spots shuffling around. "...it's kind of weird right, my room?" Rin asked.

"N-NO! It's just kinda... interesting," Ruby lamely said. "I've never been to the student dorms before, so I didn't expect it to look like this."

"Well, I did personalize it a bit." Ruby started walking to the stack of boxes and peered into the top box. She saw that the box was filled to the brim with multiple copies of the same book. "Harry Potter?"

"Oh, my guardian owns a bookstore. So he sends me books once in a while." Not said was that Tukson actually sent over a box of the first few publications of her reintroduced work. Apparently sales were going through the roof, but Tukson wanted Rin to have a couple of copies to give out to her friends. Since Rin was lacking in the friend department, the box was left untouched until now. "You can take a copy if you want. It's just collecting dust otherwise."

"Really! Cool," as Ruby swiped herself a copy, she looked at the bottom of the cover and noticed the name. "...Erik Tohsaka? Did a family member of yours write this?"

"N-Not exactly. I didn't want people to know that it was a teenager who wrote the book, so I—"

"Wait, you wrote this! That's so cool!"

"K-Kinda? More like I reintroduced it. It's a story from where I used to live."

"Wow! Someone I know has a published book! That's amazing!" Ruby gushed while hugging the book to her chest. Rin just felt embarrassed by the whole situation. Why did she let Ruby know that she wrote the book? There was a reason she picked the pseudonym after all.

Just then, Rin heard the sound of something gurgling. She looked to see Ruby's face turn bright red, her stomach still making sounds.

Rin only stared, before sighing and asked, "...wanna join me for dinner."


	5. Mystic Code

**A.N. (4/5/20) - If you didn't notice by now, new cover. Links to a bigger picture are in my profile. It turns out that being confined to my house with nothing much to do really brings out my drawing side. Sadly, this hasn't really translated to my desire to continue writing, and I found myself binging through reading through several series of manga/books or watching movies the past few days. Still, I found it in me to at least write out a longer chapter. Don't expect it too much from now on.**

**Also, I'm planning on doing maybe three to five-ish more chapters before Beacon comes around. Since I'm stuck at home I have more time to write and I kinda got a general idea of how this story is gonna go now. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 5 - Mystic Code

-3 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Tukson was feeling pretty bored.

Currently, he was walking around aimlessly through the city. It was a day off for him, a weekly little holiday when he closed the store on Tuesdays to relax for the week. For the past two years, he has raised his business into that where it was earning him a pretty good amount of Lien. You couldn't say that Tukson was making a lot, but he was at a level where he was comfortable. Still, his business was a small one after all. When his only other employee was his adopted ward, he couldn't afford to have the store open every day of the week.

And he needed a break. Even when Rin was around to help man the counter, Tukson still felt the fatigue catch up after a week's worth of work. That's why he had a day to himself during the weekdays, during a time when there were most likely fewer customers. He used to spend it with Rin either relaxing at home or going out to have fun in Vale, but since she went off to live on-campus in Patch, Tukson spent most of his days off alone.

It was... lonely, without Rin. Sure, it was Tukson's idea for Rin to go to a big-name Combat School like Signal. Tukson wanted the girl to have some combat training since it was better to have it than not. But he still missed having the little spirited girl around. Still, Tukson was kind of glad that Rin wasn't in Vale right now.

Especially once he heard a shout nearby.

"We want justice!"

A shout from one of the plazas echoed over the roaring cheers of a large crowd.

"We want equality!"

Tukson was able to recognize what was going on immediately. Since a few weeks ago, Faunus civil rights protesters have been popping up all over Vale. It wasn't unusual for large protests like this to form in public spaces. Tukson even saw several officers from the Vale Police stand nearby to keep watch on the protest. The group of officers seemed to just watch nearby in case of any trouble.

Tukson guessed that the recent spree of protests had something to do with the escalating activities of the White Fang. Traitor as he was for fleeing, he still believed in granting equality for all Faunuskind.

It's just... he didn't really have the same passion he had when he was younger. When was the last time he went to one of these rallies? Tukson didn't know if he stopped due to his guilt for leaving the White Fang or whether it was due to the improvements in his life. Life wasn't perfect, but it was far better than when he was a young lad still running from vicious humans hunting Faunus for fun. Vale was nice like that, not as racist as other cities.

_'But that's probably not enough for them,'_ Tukson thought as he looked to see young men and women hold up signs and posters. Reading through them quickly, Tukson saw that they wrote down various demands they wanted. Improved Faunus employment, equal wages to Human employees, lowering the police's unfair profiling and racism, stuff like that. Tukson let out a dark laugh as he remembered how his own sign used to simply say 'Stop Throwing Rocks At Me!' only a few years ago.

Just then, he saw a human woman start walking a little close to the more agitated part of the crowd. That was slightly concerning since usually there were chances of conflicts ensuing if some of the more violent protesters got involved with any human passersby. Tukson weighed his choices of either ignoring it or trying to veer the woman away before sighing and walking towards her.

"Hey, you!" Tukson shouted to the woman, who turned her head to look at him. "Yeah, you! I don't know what you're doing, but I'd recommend you take another path right now. There might be trouble if you go that way."

The woman blinked in obvious confusion, before tilting her glasses up. "I commend you for taking the time to warn me, but I believe you are misunderstanding something. I am part of the security detail."

"Oh," and that was a bit awkward for Tukson once he realized the situation. What did it say about him if he confused the security detail for a normal lady? To be fair, the woman didn't look like an officer. The woman looked more like a secretary, with a white long-sleeved pleated top, a black high-waisted pencil skirt, and even wore heels. The only strange part about her clothes was that weird half cape behind— wait?

"Are you a Huntress?" Tukson guessed. Tukson thought about the strange fashion that all Huntsman and Huntresses seemed to wear, and compared the mental image to the woman before him. The woman merely tilted her head at his confusion but then smiled and held out a hand for him to shake.

"Glynda Goodwitch, current Headmistress at Beacon Academy." Tukson took the hand, inwardly hoping his hand wasn't too sweaty from keeping them warm in his pockets. "Are you part of the rally?" she asked.

"Me? No," Tukson waved his hand in denial. "I'm just walking around since it's a day off for me. I used to go to them when I was younger, but not so much anymore." And Tukson didn't want to go down that negative train of thought again.

"How'd you figure out I was a Faunus though?" Tukson asked with some curiosity. While he did have some animal traits, they were the kind that wasn't as visibly noticeable to the eye. Only people who interacted with him for a while would know that he was a Faunus.

"I didn't," Glynda started. "I guessed from not only how you tried to warn me away, but how you remained despite your words. A human wouldn't warn another human away while thinking of staying around either. Unless you were part of the security detail."

"Ah," and Tukson sheepishly rubbed his head at her words. Guess that made sense. "Sorry, I'm kinda used to having to warn people off. People don't seem to realize how dangerous these rallies can turn sometimes."

Tukson blinked when he saw Glynda give a tired smile at his words.

"I can understand. Truthfully, this isn't the first time I had to supervise events like this. Beacon usually sends a rotation of Huntsman and Huntresses to help assist with law enforcement - mostly upper-year students - but even I had to fill my share of roles a couple of times," Glynda explained.

Tukson understood and related it to some of his past experiences. Sure, in some of the villages the White Fang stayed in they had a couple of guards watch over them while they held rallies and speeches. He guessed that in a larger city like Vale, a larger crowd of protesters warranted the need for a professional Huntress to watch out for any trouble.

"It's not always bad," Glynda continued. "But there are those few times when something goes wrong and the crowd grows restless," she sighed and gestured to where the police were. "My job isn't necessarily to watch out for protester going out of hand but to prevent any potential conflicts between them and the police."

"That sound's rough," and what else could Tukson say about that. Atlas was almost a perfect example of what police brutality was like. He hoped that wasn't the case here in Vale, but it might just be a case of both sides being in the wrong. "So you're some kind of mediator?"

"Less mediating and more on separating," Glynda looked down and tapped her... riding crop? Either way, Tukson looked away front the object and listened as she continued. "Rarely do words work in situations like that, and unfortunately, I often have to use force to separate the two parties."

Tukson hummed to himself. "Well, what if you have a Faunus spokesperson."

"Pardon?"

Tukson gestured to the protesters. "I mean, these guys are angry and probably have some bad experiences with humans with authority, right? Maybe they'll listen to someone who knows what they're going through."

"And are you offering your services?" Glynda asked, curious about the idea.

Tukson paused and thought about it. Sure, he put his life as part of the White Fang behind him, but that didn't mean there were other avenues to helping Faunus rights improve. If it was as simple as making sure that protesters wouldn't get in trouble with law enforcement, then wasn't that helping them too? But what if the White Fang learns about him because of this?

Huh, that idea looks pretty good now that he's thinking about it.

"I'll think about it. I never really thought about doing anything like that," Tukson admitted to the blonde woman. Glynda looked at him for a moment, then smiled. She reached into a pocket of hers and pulled out a card.

"If you need to talk to anyone, just call me. I can help you set up with the right people if you're interested." Tukson took the card while Glynda continued to talk. "I know Bart - Professor Oobleck," she clarified, "would love to have a Faunus' point of view whenever he's out on his rotation. We can even make it official and get a job title with the Council."

"Erm, that's a little too much. I'm just doing this cause it feels right," Tukson said. "I'm just a local business owner, doing my part to help the community. I can probably do this about once a week. Is it okay if I come on my days off? I'm not too sure about my schedule."

"Sure, this is just an informal idea after all. If you'd like, we can set up a proper meeting to discuss more on the topic another day," Glynda reassured.

"That sounds great. Is next week okay with you? Same day as today?" Tukson asked.

"I believe I will be free this time next week. Just in case, we can discuss the details over Scroll the day before we meet."

"Great!" and Tukson meant it. This was something he could do to help Faunuskind - without the need to commit dubious acts of terrorism and violence. The two parted ways on amicable terms, and Tukson started to walk back home for the day. He didn't expect his day off to somehow find himself offering his services to the city's law enforcement. Nor did he imagine he would spend a pleasant afternoon talking to a beautiful huntress while making plans to meet up later.

_'Let's not tell Rin about this though,'_ Tukson thought. Else she might try and tease Tukson about him getting a date with a beautiful Huntress. Sheesh, that girl sure likes to but in on his romantic life, always going on and on about how he needs someone in his life.

At least Rin's not the type of girl he had to worry about in that regard. The little socially awkward girl she is, let alone dating anyone it's a miracle if she even has a friend.

Tukson whistled, wondering if Rin was having fun at school. She's probably just chilling around in her dorm room, doing homework, or something else with her time.

}-{

"So I heard you slept with my daughter last night."

Rin sputtered at Taiyang's words and the man took the opportunity and exploited the distraction he caused. He lowered his body and swept his leg, causing Rin to fall to the ground. Throwing a punch, it stopped an inch before the young girl's face, who couldn't block or deflect it in time.

"Y-You! That's a cheap move!" Rin shouted indignantly from the ground, her face flushed red with embarrassment.

Taiyang laughed and changed from a closed fist to an open hand. Holding it towards the young girl, he helped Rin get up from the ground and watched as she tried to compose herself.

"Hey, it's a valid move in combat. I won't be the only opponent who'll use mind tricks against you. This is just good practice for when the time comes."

"Yeah? Well, next time I encounter an opponent insulating that I had sexual relations with their child I'll remember to not blush and make a fool of myself," Rin grumbled just loud enough for Taiyang to barely hear it. She used the back of her hand to wipe off the sweat on her brow. "Least you didn't take the chance to pound my face in while I was down."

The two were sparring in one of Signal's training rooms. Taiyang often spars with the young girl while pointing out flaws in her movements whenever the two were free. Rin had come to him when she first transferred here asking for extra lessons in hand-to-hand combat. Taiyang often got requests like this, especially from students who based their combat styles on brawling or martial arts, so it didn't really bother him to teach the young girl.

That said, Taiyang paid a bit more attention to Rin than his other students. The girl constantly fought with his more rambunctious daughter, even though the two were several years apart. Fighting over who has better grades in their year or who's the best combatant in their respective classes, yadda yadda yadda. His other daughter also talked about how 'awesome' her lab partner was during classes, how they partner during Combat Class, etc. And other than interacting with his daughters a lot, the girl was simply too fun to tease.

Rin sighed and lowered herself to sit on the ground. "I just found Ruby in the dorms and offered her my bathroom. Then, since it was late, I offered her dinner and a place to crash for the night."

"Yeah, I know. She texted me she was gonna be staying at your place last night," Taiyang said while sitting down as well. And what a surprise that was for Taiyang. Ruby didn't really have friends outside those Yang introduced to her. While Ruby stayed over at other people's houses before, it was when she was still a kid and following Yang on one of her sleepovers. Once they grew up, Ruby rarely found any friends she was truly close enough to stay over at their place. It kind of worried him as a father that his youngest daughter didn't really have any close friends at her age. "I just wanted to say thanks for taking care of her last night."

Rin waved him off. "No problem. Ruby's nice and it wasn't a bother."

"Yeah, she's nice. She's a good girl, unlike my other girl who's off running around who knows where." The two sighed as they both thought about Yang. Taiyang, however, wasn't too worried. He had Qrow watching out for her while Yang went off on whatever funk she had going on.

The two sat down resting for a while before Taiyang suddenly thought of something. "Hey, Rin."

"Yes, Profess—"

"Rin, how many times have I said it already! Call me Tai."

"Yes, _Professor_," Rin repeated while stressing out the last word. "What's up?"

Taiyang scratched his head. "Why'd you join Signal. I know you live in Vale, so it's kinda weird that you would move all the way out here just to enroll here." It was something he was curious about since he first learned that she came from Vale. It's not like she couldn't join a school in Vale.

"Why not?" She shrugged her shoulders. "It's the best school around," Rin replied.

"Yeah, but it's the best school around for _Hunters_," Tukson stressed. "I've noticed your grades in school, specifically math and science. And I've seen how you act in some of your classes. I very much doubt you're planning on being a Huntress. I keep getting the feeling you'd like to be an engineer or something."

Rin snorted at that, to which Taiyang gave her a weird look. Seeing that, Rin sighed and spoke in a tired voice. "I don't really hate the concept of Huntsman and Huntresses, but they're too much like what life as a hero would be like. And if there's anything I've learned from being a Tohsaka, it's that life as a hero will almost always end in tragedy."

"Oh?" Taiyang began to grow curious about what she was thinking. "Something against heroes?"

"I guess?" Rin stared off into space as she began to speak. "Many years ago, I chanced upon a Wizard of a kind who took me under him as an apprentice of sorts." Taiyang's heart stopped once he heard those words, his face frozen in shock. Rin, not noticing how her words affected him, continued. "Through him, I saw a possibility of what my future would have been if I to follow certain paths. I would have contracted with a nameless hero who lost everything and gained nothing but regrets. And at the same time, I would save a person who is eerily similar to that nameless hero. And I would damn the boy by introducing him to a world that would lead to his ruin, all because of his dream of becoming a hero of justice."

Taiyang grew wary at what the young girl was saying. Her words didn't exactly make sense, but the words she used. Wizard? Hero? Introducing them to a world that would lead them to ruin? He was drawing parallels between what he's hearing and what he knew, but were they talking about the same things?

"So... what? You met some creepy fortune teller and now you don't like heroes because of some prophecy about your future?" Taiyang half-joked.

"Nope," copying Ruby's signature phrase that she learned from her uncle. Rin shrugged again. "I avoided that future already, so it doesn't really matter what I think about heroes. I'm never gonna meet that boy, and if I run into that nameless hero again, it won't really matter too much cause we'll probably think the same about heroes."

"Is that why you don't get along too well with Ruby? Cause of her dream of being a hero?" Taiyang asked curiously. While he knew Ruby considered Rin her friend, Taiyang didn't really get the same feeling from the young girl herself. Rin seemed to act distant around Ruby, treating her like a strange acquaintance she puts up with. It kinda reminded him of how Raven treated the rest of the team while they were first-years before Summer wormed her way into her heart.

"Not really. Like I said, Ruby's nice. I like nice people, but she's a little too much for me. All peppy and happy, like a hyperactive puppy."

"Don't get all emo on me," Taiyang rubbed the girl's head, to her displeasure. This only seemed to amuse him, inwardly thinking how similar she acted like Yang when she was Rin's age.

"Ugh," Taiyang rubbed his forehead. "How'd our conversation turn to this? All I asked was why'd you choose to go to Signal when it's clear you don't want to be a Huntress."

"Oh, that's simple," Rin replied flippantly. "It's cause it was the first school my guardian suggested." She leaned in and pretend-whispered to him. "Honestly, I think he wanted me to learn here so I know how to beat up any potential suitors of mine."

Taiyang let out a bark of laughter at that. That was actually something he could believe. He met Tukson, the nice Faunus guardian of the young girl, a while ago. Tukson's a nice guy, even though he's a bit of a pushover when faced with his adoptive daughter. Taiyang could relate, given how much he himself caves in sometimes to his own daughters. He could totally imagine Tukson following his daughter on her dates grinding his teeth while staring daggers at whatever poor bastard tried to woo his daughter.

"Yeah, I could get behind that idea."

"Oh God. You're one of those over-protective dads aren't you?" Rin rolled her eyes as she ranted. "The one who probably scouts out all your daughters' male friends and maybe threatens one or two of them with the shovel talk. I kinda feel like it's your fault that Ruby's so shy and Yang's such a terror."

"Hey! I'm not that bad." Sure, Taiyang may get a bit overprotective of his kids. Yang may have grown up, but she's also grown out and he knew that the male students in her class definitely noticed. Ruby's cute now, but soon she'll also be turning heads. Still, Taiyang liked to think he was the cool dad that could let his girls decide for themselves how to act.

Besides, he still has his weapons ready whenever some bastard comes along and even dares thinking of doing something to his daughters.

"Ugh!" Rin probably saw something on Taiyangs's face, because she once again rolled her eyes. "You're impossible. And Tukson's probably the same as you. Seriously, overprotective parents are so overrated."

The two got up and got into their stances again. Throwing a weak punch, Taiyang watched as Rin deflected it and pulled back her other arm to prepare a punch. Her strange Aura acted up and blue lines started to appear on her limbs. He asked about it a long time ago, and she only replied it was a family quirk of hers. Taiyang crossed his arms and blocked her punch.

The two went at it for the next few minutes before stopping for the day. Taiyang was still feeling okay, but Rin was tired and panting on the ground. As they were cleaning up the training room of their stuff, Rin asked Taiyang something.

"I kinda have a favor to ask you. I kinda need your help with meeting someone."

"Oh?" Taiyang looked at her curiously. "Who's that?"

"Glynda Goodwitch."

And that wary feeling from earlier came back. If she was asking for the right-hand woman of Ozpin himself, then that was something to watch out for. Taiyang's face didn't let out anything as he tried to probe her for more information. "Glynda? Why ask me?"

"I dunno? You're a Professor, so you probably know all the people in education or something," her excuse was weak and something that sounded like what a regular teenager would think of. "And it was either I ask you, or I try to figure it out on my own. I'm too lazy to try and find out how a person normally contacts the Headmistress of Beacon, so I'd figure you'd already know and you can just point me in the right direction."

"Hm," Taiyang thought about it for a moment. "Sure, why not. Wanna tell me why you want to meet her anyway?"

"Eh~ I'm interested in Ms. Goodwitch and how she manipulates Dust. I'm thinking of asking her for an apprenticeship, or some way to have some personal tutoring with her. I'm good with Dust and elemental manipulation thanks to my Semblance, but she's good enough to literally use the weather to attack her opponents."

Taiyang didn't really know what to make of what she said. He didn't know what Rin's Semblance was, but he has heard good things about her grades in Dust related classes.

"Okay, why not? I can take you to her in Vale this weekend. That's when you go home anyway, right?" Taiyang paused to take in her nod of confirmation. "I was thinking of bringing Ruby to Vale anyways to look at some parts for her weapon project. Qrow was supposed to take her, but since he's gone off doing something else I was supposed to take Ruby myself. We can go after school ends on Friday, and I can drop you off at Beacon or something while I take Ruby around Vale.

"Sure. Let me call Tukson first, and we can work out the details later." The two started to walk out of the training room. Taiyang's head was a mess of thoughts, thinking about what Rin said over the past hour. Logically, Taiyang didn't really think that Rin could be somehow involved in the secret shadow war between Ozpin and Salem. Still... it's probably a good idea if he lets Ozpin in on his suspicions and meets Rin for himself.

}-{

Rin was working in her dorm room, making sure the doors were locked and the windows blocked. After she finished her with Professor Xiao Long, she went on back to her dormitory to continue working on her... special project.

The whole reason she was sent to Remnant was to study the Kaleidoscope Mystic Code, the Jewel Sword of Zelretch. Over the years, she's been working on her Jewel Magecraft - or what she likes to simplify as Jewelcraft - so that she could eventually start her experiments on prototype Mystic Codes that would act as the basis for a copy of the Jewel Sword itself.

Rin had already made a prototype Mystic Code - a type of Dust Blade - a long ago, although the term 'Mystic Code' is loosely used in that case. Rin had made it with the intention of creating an Azoth Sword, something her family and several other mage families made as a sort of test of rite or something, but the resulting object was simply too poor to be considered one. The prototype she made was literally just a large dagger-shaped Dust crystal, with no forging or complicated spell modification involved. Every time Rin used it, there was a small chance that it would literally just blow up in her face rather than aid her spell casting. It was too poor to be used as a proper Azoth Sword, but it was still useful as a one-time projectile bomb.

To this day, the Patch Police were still looking for the unknown identity of the bomber of a certain Signal classroom, now barred from students and faculty alike. Rin stopped all experiments for a week after that incident.

Of course, this was almost a whole year ago. She made a couple of other blades since then, which were okay but not anything special. Rin had leaped by bounds since then, and right now she was on her way to completing her masterpiece - a prototype Dust blade that would incorporate not only aid in her spell casting but also the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon of Zelretch's Second Magic. It wouldn't open holes to parallel dimensions like the Jewel Sword, but hopefully, it'll have some access to the Second Magic so that it would help Rin further her research.

Plus, Rin hoped to add something a little special to her project.

Rin gathered her materials and began the procedure for her experiment. Holding several Dust crystals in her hand, Rin sent a mental command to the spell framework she inscribed in some of the crystals. The numerous pieces of Dust began to melt like a liquid in her hand, slowly seeping through her clenched fingers onto the ground below. A sword-shaped mold started to fill up with the liquid concoction, and runes inscribed within the interior of the mold started to glow as the liquid touched them.

Rin wasn't a blacksmith or anything like that. But she was a Magus, and she did inherit the collective knowledge of all the Tohsaka due to her Family Crest. Several of her ancestors made similar Mystic Codes before, but not with the resources and knowledge Rin had. Creating an Azoth Blade using otherwordly materials and adding a complicated trait that is the Second Magic made it difficult, but not impossible to accomplish.

Rin slowly wiped her hands clean with a nearby cloth, before grimacing and taking out a small box. This was something she ordered by going through various contacts in the shady part of Vale, the object arriving from Mistral or someplace near the area. It wasn't something people would look at kindly if it were known what she was using it for. Even so, if she wanted to complete her Mystic Code so that it will work the way she intended, she needed this final ingredient. Opening the box, she cringed as she saw the contents.

A dead swallow.

Preserved in some sort of sheen that petrified the dried corpse into a rigid-like object, Rin dropped the entirety of the contents straight into the mold. Rin watched the object she painfully took the time to acquire slowly break apart in the liquid. The swallow was meant to act as a catalyst, in order to summon forth a certain conceptual idea. The Dust mixture helped create a connection to other realms, the specifics not quite clear to Rin as she mostly based it upon the notes left behind by Zelretch. The swallow began to melt quickly and started mixing with the liquid Dust, turning the entire contents into a strange blue color. The mold began to slowly shine a light purple as Rin activated a heating rune and the contents began to solidify. Taking the chance, she closed her eyes and began to chant.

"_O Nameless Samurai. Grant me your greatest and only possession, your ultimate technique. Grant me your fabled name, and infuse it upon this blade of min,_" Rin slowly opened her eyes to watch as the contents below her began to bubble.

Rin remembered how this whole project started. Ruby started ranting one day about the importance of Huntsman and Huntresses giving a name to their weapon, and Rin absentmindedly listened. Then, she remembered how important True Names were to Heroic Spirits and imagined all of the nameless Servants who were supposedly weaker due to not having their name well known. Later that day, Rin was suddenly inspired. What if she were to infuse the concept of a Heroic Spirit, even the smallest sliver of a copy of one, into an object. Not a Servant body, but a weapon.

The liquid calmed down and no longer bubbled. The shape of a blade began to form from the mold. It slowly began to turn into a small sword, almost a knife to most adults judging by its size and length. However, for the still-growing Rin, it was long enough to be considered a short sword. Grabbing the bare hilt, Rin winced at the unexpected burning sensation from her palm grabbing the object.

"_I name you, wraith - reborn as a blade. Neither Servant nor Human, but Sword. Rise, Mystic Code. I name thee - Sasaki Kojiro._"

**VvVVvRrRRRrZZzZtTTT**

The sword seemed to explode in an explosion of sound and purple light. Rin felt an unbearable pain as the space around her seemed to fold and duplicate itself. The sword seemed to vibrate the air and roar through the dimensions. A headache began to form in Rin's mind, and she started to have double vision. Or, at least she thought she did. Either that or the dimensions were literally converging and/or duplicating itself. The whole room was shaking and covered in a purple hue. Eventually, the strange phenomenon started to calm down after a few minutes and soon the room grew silent.

Rin collapsed - completely exhausted - onto her knees and started to pant heavily, still holding the newly forged blade in her hand. Checking the blade, she sent a simple _Structural Grasp_ spell through the blade to check the inner workings. Once she made sure everything went according to plan, she started to whoop and began pumping her other hand in the air. "It worked! Oh my God, I can't believe it actually worked!"

What Rin did was something she thought was impossible, having only done so since she had no other idea to experiment with. Using the bare minimum knowledge she was able to glean about constructing the Holy Grail Ritual from the memories inscribed in the Family Crest, she attempted to summon a fraction of a copy of a Heroic Spirit, specifically that of the Assassin from Fate/Stay Night. Using her notes and the books she got from Zelretch, she was able to fuse the legend of Sasaki Kojirou not into the body of a Servant, but as a simple sword type Mystic Code.

And if everything went according to plan, then she gained a powerful weapon. A weapon that can mimic the ultimate technique of the Nameless Samurai himself. A fake copy of the ultimate technique of a wraith based on a story. The story of how a normal human, who created a technique that was neither a Noble Phantasm or a magical phenomenon. Rin couldn't replicate the technique the same way Sasaki did, but using Zelretch's notes on the Second Magic, she could recreate the resulting phenomena using an absurd amount of magical energy, which would most likely destroy the blade itself.

That's right. Rin had created a one-time Mystic Code capable of using the ultimate Mystic Sword technique - the _Tsubame Gaeshi_.

Rin set down the sword type Mystic Code, now named Sasaki Kojiro, onto the ground. This was her first large step into her research on the Second Magic. A power capable of controlling parallel dimensions. Not only that, but Rin also technically tapped into the Third Magic, since she used a small aspect of Heaven's Feel to infuse the concept of a Heroic Spirit into the Mystic Code. That's two different types of Sorcery right there. Rin was feeling giddy at her accomplishments. That is until she finally noticed something weird was going on.

In the corner of her room where she moved it earlier that day to clear some space for the experiment, was Zelretch's trunk. And it was glowing. Rin turned to look just as the coffin-shaped trunk exploded in a swirl of colors.

"What the hell?!" Covering her eyes, Rin cried out as she felt the strange phenomena from before begin to act up again. Only this time, the room wasn't shaking as much and there were more colors than before. Rin's eyes were blinded, but through the gaps between her fingers, she saw a shadow slowly walk towards her.

Without warning, Rin's mind was struck by something and she blacked out.


	6. The First Reward

**A.N. (4/12/20) - School is gonna pick up for me, so I'm not gonna be able to put in as much time into this story. The next few chapters are probably gonna have less of a word count per chapter, so this will probably be the last time for a while a chapter will have 6000 words.**

**I think I forgot to mention this before, but the trunk Zelretch gave her is ****_not _****Zelretch's Treasure Chest from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. It doesn't have Magical Ruby in it and it's a little different than the chest. For one, it's coffin-shaped and larger than the treasure chest.**

* * *

Chapter 6 - The First Reward

-3 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Rin groggily opened her eyes and found herself in a familiar place.

Well, it was familiar in the sense that even though she herself had never been here before she remembered Erik being here once.

Rin found herself in the same black, empty space where Erik first met Zelretch. Currently, the room was empty of anyone and anything except the trunk Zelretch gave her that probably brought her here and Rin herself. The recently created sword type Mystic Code was at her side, acting just like a normal blade instead of the strange dimension warping object it was before.

_'Ugh, what happened.'_ Rin winced as she felt a knob around her forehead as if some blunt object had smashed into it. It wasn't until she moved her hands that she realized something was wrong. One of her hands was gripping something, and for some reason, she didn't notice until now.

Looking down, she screamed.

"_M-M-M-MAGICAL GIRL TIME!_" The crazy stick of horror said from her hand in an inhuman voice. "_Now, just place a drop of blood on me to complete Master registration!_"

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Oh god! This was literally one of her worst nightmares. The few things she feared when interacting with the Wizard Marshal himself was eventually encountering one of his crazy perverted inventions. Rin thought it was strange when she first received Zelretch's trunk that she didn't find Magical Ruby, but Rin just assumed that she wouldn't ever encounter the strange Mystic Code. After all, she didn't receive the Treasure Chest from Fate/Hollow Ataraxia.

"What the hell! Get out of my hand!" Rin threw the crazy stick with all of her might away from her. The Mystic Code bounced off of the ground several feet in front of her— wait, what?

"_M-M-M-MAGICAL GIRL TIME!_" Magical Ruby repeated from the ground. "_Now, just place a drop of blood on me to complete Master registration!_"

Rin was silent for a moment. She walked to the stick on the ground and picked up the offending object. Rin started to notice a few strange things. Like how the stick didn't bend or move at all, or how the supposed Mystic Code just repeated the same line. Casting a quick _Structural Grasp_ on the object, Rin suddenly understood what was going on.

It was a toy.

"ZELRETCH YOU DAMNED BASTARD!"

"_M-M-M-MAGICAL GIRL TI—_" Not bothering to let the toy finished, Rin reinforced her hand and crushed the talking toy in her hand. Bits of circuitry and what remained of a voice box fell apart from her hand.

"Hm, I was wondering how long it would take you to notice." And suddenly Zelretch finally appeared out of nowhere right beside Rin. He was probably the shadowy figure Rin saw before she passed out, and for some reason hid until now. Rin was too bothered to feel shocked at his appearance and merely gave him the bird.

"Was all of that really necessary?" Rin asked in annoyance, throwing the remnants of the toy Magical Ruby away. Zelretch waved his hands and the pieces dissipated into motes of blue particles.

"Not at all. I was just trying to lower the tension," he replied. A table and two chairs suddenly popped into existence, and the two took a chair each and sat down. "It was kinda funny how you acted."

"So just to make sure, this was all a joke?" Rin shook her head in exasperation. "You know, I never really got the impression that you were into pranks like this," Rin absentmindedly replied.

"Meh, it honestly depends on my mood. When you live as long as I have, you have your crazy and lazy days," Zelretch said, waving his hand and levitating the sword Mystic Code Rin created to the table. "I've been keeping track of your progress from time to time, just to see if you were working on the project of yours. Nice going getting established in that world. I honestly didn't know that Tukson was planning on adopting you."

"Wait," Rin paused to look at the man across the table from her. "You didn't send me there intentionally?" Rin asked in surprise. She didn't even bother asking how Zelretch knew about Tukson.

"No, or at least, not to Tukson specifically. I sent you to Vale because it was the one city that was for sure to be safe for the next several years," he explained. "Atlas has problems with the White Fang. Mistral has Huntsman and Huntresses being killed off. Vacuo has a lot of weather and Grimm problems. Vale was honestly the best place to stay without any problems."

"And it totally has nothing to do with the fact that there's gonna be a lot of drama starting there in the next few years," Rin sarcastically noted.

"It's not like you have to do anything," Zelretch rolled his eyes. And judging from his awareness of the Kingdoms of Remnant, Rin could safely assume Zelretch knew the plot of RWBY as well, not that she hadn't figured before. "You, of course, have the option to meddle with events but note that your knowledge on the show doesn't always translate properly into interacting with parallel worlds. But of course, you already had an idea about that." Zelretch gave her a look, to which Rin bristled under.

"So, can you guess why you are here?" Zelretch asked.

"Well, you kidnapped me after I just completed my Mystic Code. I'm guessing you want to appraise it." She thought about it more. "You did mention something about rewarding me when you first talked to Erik, so that might have something to do with this too. Take a look over it if you want. Hopefully, I did pretty okay," she said while her hand indicated the item in question on the table. Zelretch merely hummed before taking the blade in his hands and running his fingers along the surface. Rin didn't exactly know how much Zelretch could observe from her work, but judging by the way his eyes narrowed in concentration he seemed to know what he was doing.

"Hm, shitty foundry but you knew that. Dust mixture and ratio is kinda iffy but within range of expectations. I like the conceptual implantation with the sparrow, but honestly, it wasn't really necessary. But since you're kinda cheating by substituting your lack of knowledge on parallel dimensions with an already established example, it's understandable why you did so," Zelretch analyzed.

"Speaking of which, I have a question about that. Did I actually connect to the Throne of Heroes for a moment?" Rin wondered.

"No." At Zelretch's immediate denial, Rin felt her pride take a hit. "Remember, Sasaki Kojiro is more of a Wraith than an actual Heroic Spirit. You used your beliefs and knowledge of the character himself and condensed his conceptual existence into the sword." Rin lowered her head in sadness at what he said. So, she didn't really connect to a Heroic Spirit. "That said, the whole point was to recreate the ability to utilize the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon, which you got down correctly. Even if it does cost a lot of magical energy to do so."

Zelretch placed the Mystic Code onto the table and sighed. "Honestly, you kinda cheated with how you did this. You copied off the work of someone that already accomplished this much, and not even perfectly. You have to substitute proper skill with a large amount of magic power, and you barely understand the theory at how your own creation even works."

Rin winced and waited for him to continue. She thought that her idea was good, but now she's reconsidering if she actually did all that great in the first place. Zelretch was silent for a moment, with Rin sweating in anticipation. Eventually, he spoke. "But... this is exactly what I was expecting of you."

"Huh?"

Seeing Rin's reaction, Zelretch laughed out loud. "Have you forgotten why I choose you in the first place. I said in the past that Magi, in general, were too rigid in their mindsets. If someone already did the work for you, why waste time trying to replicate it when you can just steal their research. And it's not like you didn't fail at what I told you to do. Remember, you're what? Twelve? Thirteen? It took the memories of the Einzbern ancestor, the transplanted Reality Marble of a Heroic Spirit, and several generations of Tohsaka knowledge to recreate a degraded copy of my Jewel Sword."

That's... a very good point.

"This is nowhere near the complexity of what they accomplished, but it's still something. You recreated a Mystic Code capable of matching the power of a Noble Phantasm. And with only two years of self-study."

Sure, it was self-study but aren't most Magi like that. The original Rin was supposed to be kinda taught by Kirei, but didn't she learn Jewel Magecraft on her own? And the books Zelretch gave Rin weren't the kind you could easily find anywhere, even in the Moonlit world.

"Bah! I can see it on your face that you don't understand what I'm saying." Zelretch shook his head in annoyance. Sighing, he looked directly at Rin's eyes and spoke in a kind voice. "In simple words, you did good kid."

Rin's eyes widened in shock at receiving such direct praise from Zelretch. It... it was kinda strange, the way he said it. In fact, from what Rin knew of the man, it was almost completely out of character for him to act so. Rin suddenly noticed that she had a funny feeling in her chest from hearing his words.

"Hey, kid? You gonna talk or am I just gonna ramble the whole time we're here?" Zelretch asked with amusement in his voice.

Rin shook her head and replied, "Sorry. I just... wasn't expecting that."

"Well don't get used to it. You still got a few years left before you turn seventeen. Try to beat your alternate and actually make a good copy before you grow as old as her."

Rin suddenly thought of something and narrowed her eyes. "By the way, why didn't you tell me that I would be sent here like... this." She gestured up and down her body, indicating her female form. He kinda hinted at it before Erik was sent to Remnant that he would somehow fuse with Rin, but Zelretch never explained why. Rin wondered about his reasoning before but just assumed that there was a reason why he didn't tell Erik.

"I wanted to surprise you. By the way, I recorded the way you reacted when you first woke up. It was hilarious."

...then again, Rin forgot who she was talking to for a moment. Rin sighed and rubbed her head, before continuing her line of thought. "There's another question I'd like to ask. How come I - or rather, the original Rin - can't seem to remember meeting you. As far as I know, I popped into Remnant one day with my soul somehow a mix of two different people."

Even now, Rin still had trouble separating her two former lives. Erik had a major influence on Rin's personality due to experiencing more years. However, Rin felt that her identity seemed to center more around her original identity as Rin Tohsaka. She wasn't some young man trapped in a girl's body, but rather a girl who somehow inherited the memories of a young man named Erik.

But as far as she knew, only Erik has met Zelretch before. The original Rin didn't die or anything but was just sleeping at home as far as Rin could remember.

"...do you really want to know?" Zelretch seemed to turn serious all of a sudden. "Just to clarify, we did meet before you were sent to this dimension. I didn't just kidnap a young girl and randomly fuse her soul with someone else."

"But why can't I remember that?" Rin repeated with some confusion in her voice.

"Think about it," Zelretch looked straight into Rin's eyes and spoke in an almost hypnotic voice. "Look through the memories of Erik, understand and compile all the facts you know about the original Rin Tohsaka, and explain to me why you think the original Rin would forget meeting me."

And she did. Rin looked through the accumulated knowledge Erik had on the original Rin. Who she was as a person, what kind of future she could've had, who her family was, what was her greatest desires and regrets. And then... Rin finally had a theory.

"I... I forgot. I forgot because... either you told me something. Something so traumatic I had to forget. Or you erased my memories of our first meeting," Rin slowly said, still trying to get a clearer picture.

"Oh? Explain," Zelretch smiled sinisterly as he said so.

"S-She didn't know. Or rather, I didn't know. The original Rin... why would she accept a plan of fusing with some stranger's soul? You told her - me - something that would make her, me, _us_, accept."

"And what did I tell her?"

"You told her... about Sakura," and to Rin's horror, she finally realized what must've happened. "You manipulated a young girl's feelings of horror at what her sister was going through. And you took advantage of her feelings to save her sister!" Rin looked at him, suddenly seeing Zelretch in a horrible light. "What kind of deal did you propose exactly?"

"Hm, you still can't remember?" Zelretch laughed, and Rin was frustrated at his attempt to stall at giving an answer. But she waited, and eventually, Zelretch calmed down. "You're half right and half wrong. I won't say exactly what our deal was but know this. You willingly accepted this experiment of mine, and have been promptly compensated for your acceptance."

"And I'm just supposed to believe that?" Rin asked in a sharp tone.

"Well, you should if you still remembered what our deal actually was," Zelretch smiled at Rin's annoyance. Rin clenched her teeth but accepted that she wasn't gonna get any more information out of the old man. "Forget this, look at the time. I was just planning on having a small talk before I gave out your rewards, but the conversation just seemed to go on and on."

"What rewards?" Rin asked in confusion. Zelretch gave her a look, and Rin's face flushed as she felt embarrassed for forgetting why Zelretch was here in the first place. To be fair, her head was still swimming in thoughts about the previous conversation.

"So, first things first," Zelretch snapped his fingers, and the trunk he gave Rin several years ago started to glow. As it dimmed, Rin tore her eyes away from it as Zelretch began to speak. "The trunk I gave you has several layers of access to it. I opened up a few seals to the spacial extension, so now you have more available sources of knowledge."

Well... thanks? Honestly, Rin liked that she had more options but she hasn't even finished the first set of books he gave her.

"Don't give me that look, there's more." Seeing Rin's lack of reaction, Zelretch gruffed as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a glowing red gem. Seeing the gem, Rin felt a strange aura surround the palm-sized item and stared at it in confusion.

"This is a type of Mystic Code that I've inputted a special type of spell into it. You may or may not recognize the gem, but it's using a special type of photonic crystal as a base for the spell storage," Zelretch explained. Rin took a moment to think, before recognizing the term as something related to the Moon Cell of Fate/Extra.

"Now, this is important so don't freak out too much," he started. Taking a breath, he continued. "With this, you can summon a couple of Heroic Spirits as Servants."

Rin was silent for a moment before she processed his words. "...what?"

"Just the Knight-Classes though, not all seven classes. And it's useless at the moment, cause it's missing a key ingredient," Rin was still in shock as Zelretch continued. "Since there's no Greater Grail on Remnant, you can't actually support the summoning of a real Servant. Well... maybe one Servant, but not without taking a large strain on your magical reserves."

He waved his hand in a dramatic manner. "That's why I found a way to deal with that problem. Just take this gem and connect it to one of the four Relics left behind by the God of Light. Any of them is fine, as long as the gem makes direct contact with a Relic. Once the gem touches a Relic, the spell imbued inside of it will establish a type of Servant Summoning Ritual that'll let you summon a few Servants."

Rin was still in shock. "...what?!"

"You can't summon all three Servants in one go though," Zelretch continued. "For one, it's impossible. Even with the lowered cost by just living on Remnant, a regular human can't support several Servants at once with just this. You can probably summon three weak Servants, or maybe two strong Servants. Either way, since your options are limited to only the Knight-Classes, whatever you get will still be a powerhouse in its own way."

At this point, Rin's brain had all but shut down. "...what?!"

"And there's a cooldown of around a few months between each summoning. This isn't like the Fuyuki Grail system, so get used to one Servant first before you summon another one."

Dumbly, Rin repeated the same word. "...what?!"

"...okay, this is kinda getting annoying." Zelretch waved his hand, and Rin's body began to glow in a bright number of colors. "I already did what I wanted and got you your reward. Enjoy your carrot, and impress me even more once you get back." Pointing in several other directions, the trunk and the sword type Mystic Code began to glow as well. "I probably won't see you for a few months, so goodbye until then."

Rin's vision was soon engulfed in a number of bright colored lights before she found herself staring blankly at the ceiling of her dorm room. At the corner of her vision, she saw her trunk and sword were on the ground near her.

Still taking the time to settle her thoughts over the last hour, Rin dumbly repeated, "...what?!"

}-{

Two days have passed since she met Zelretch and created her sword, Sasaki Kojiro. The sword was currently hanging by her hip in a dull sheath she made for it. A few of her classmates were curious at what it was at first, but then understood when she said it was her personal weapon. Some asked Rin to show it off, but most of them grew disinterested once they realized it was just a simple sword - even if it was made out of Dust.

Ruby was ecstatic at first too, until she realized that it wasn't a mecha shift weapon. Then Ruby panicked, probably thinking she offended Rin by not being excited about her personal weapon. Either way, it soon got awkward for the two of them and they got through the class in a weird mood.

Rin was still getting over the fact that she now had a magic rock that would allow her to summon Servants! How awesome was that? Of course, it wasn't working at the moment. After Zelretch dropped her off in her room, Rin took the time to observe and analyze the spellwork done on the gem.

It was... interesting.

But Rin got the gist of what the gem's function was. First, she needed to access a Relic to connect to the unknown source of power that made the Relics work. Once she does, the gem will dissipate and a set of Command Seals will start to form on her body. With the exception for the first summoning, any further seals may take a few weeks or months to form, but once they do it tells Rin when she's allowed to summon another Servant. That meant that Rin would have a potential maximum of nine command seals.

However, since each Relic is either hidden or locked away by some sort of vault, this made it harder for Rin to access any of the Relics. Her best chances were getting to Mistral and convincing Raven to somehow open the vault to the Relic of Knowledge for her. But that plan was as easy as getting Cinder to switch sides and dedicate her life to saving puppies.

Luckily, Zelretch gave her another option for opening a vault. The gem itself - let's call it the Crystal - acts as some sort of storage that captures magical signature. If a Maiden's magic makes contact with the Crystal, then the magic is trapped into the crystal and it can act as a way to bypass the need for a Maiden to unlock a vault.

So all Rin now needs to do is somehow get into direct contact with an elemental attack from the Maiden who's also a power-obsessed leader of a bandit tribe. Who also lives on another continent with no exact location known. And after somehow tracking said Maiden and getting her magical signature, all hopefully without getting killed or captured in the process, she has to sneak into Haven Academy and go through the vault without alternating Lionheart or any of Salem's spies.

...Rin was starting to think that Zelretch made the entire process ridiculously difficult on purpose as some sort of prank.

"Hey, Rin? The class is over now. You okay there?" Ruby poked Rin in the arm, and Rin suddenly snapped out of her thoughts. Slightly blushing, Rin coughed in her hand before turning to speak to Ruby.

"Wha- Sorry, I was thinking about something," Rin got up from her desk and started to leave the classroom with Ruby. Rin still questioned what exactly the nature of her relationship with the young girl was. Rin couldn't call them friends, but Ruby was one of the only people Rin actually talked to in school. Other than Yang, but that was in the opposite direction Ruby was in.

Still, strangers didn't invite themselves to other people's rooms. And Ruby has been acting strange since that day when Rin invited her over for dinner and later allowing her to stay over for the night.

Whatever Rin's thoughts on the subject were, they were interrupted when Ruby suddenly started a conversation. "H-Hey! Do you remember how I told you I was working on my special weapon after school? Apparently, my Uncle Qrow is gonna help teach me how to use a scythe after class from now on."

"That's nice Ruby. I saw how Professor Branwen demonstrated his skills before, so I think it's great that you're getting lessons from someone as skilled as he is." Rin thought her words were a bit over-polite, but Ruby took it in stride.

"Yeah, he's awesome like that! But apparently, he's cool with the idea of teaching another person while I'm there with him. I was wondering since he uses a sword," she gestured to the blade by Rin's side, "and since y-you now have a sword too, that you'd like to learn how to train with your personal weapon with me. You know, i-if you have the time," Ruby asked shyly.

Rin made a surprised face at the offer. "Are you sure? Your Uncle is just okay with that?"

"Yeah! He insisted once Dad told him you were my friend. Then Uncle Qrow offered to teach you how to use the sword too so that the two of us could spar with each other or something. Er... if you want to of course," Rin finished lamely.

"We're friends?" Rin asked in surprise.

"Aren't we?" Ruby started to get nervous all of a sudden. "I just thought, since we talk a lot and I kinda have fun when we do and I thought you liked it sometimes, even if it looks like you just put up with me when no one else does. But then it's kinda weird cause I'm Yang's sister and you and she have that weird rivalry thingy."

"Sure."

"But that might just be me making assumptions. I mean, friends aren't the only people who have nice conversations together. We could be really friendly classmates who have nice talks together. A-And even if we weren't f-friends you can still come with me to train with Uncle Qrow."

"Ruby—"

"You know what, I'm just rambling. Just forget what I said."

"Ruby!" Rin finally got the other girl to stop rambling.

"Huh?"

"I said okay. When do you want to do this?"

It took Ruby a second or two before she properly responded, which was basically her zipping towards Rin with her Semblance and practically pressing her face against her's. "Really!"

"Yeah, sure. Why not? I usually train with your Dad anyway, and I do need someone to show me the basics of how to use the sword. I think your Uncle uses something a bit different from me, but he's probably someone who would know how to teach me better than your Dad at least."

Ruby's face broke off into smiles. Abruptly hugging Rin, she started to shout, "Oh, this will be great! I didn't think you'd actually say yes."

"Ruby," Rin's face slowly started to flush. "I'm glad you're happy, but could you please let me go."

With an 'eep' sound, Ruby quickly let go of the other girl and hopped back a step. "S-Sorry! I just got a little excited." Ruby rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, a sheepish smile on her face. Rin awkwardly smiled in response.

"I-It's okay Ruby. So... when do you want to do this?" Rin asked.

"H-How about after school? I'm mostly finished with the modifications to my baby and this way me and my Uncle can meet up with you whenever we're done with school."

"Uncle and I," Rin corrected.

"Same thing," Ruby replied. "So... next Monday good with you?"

"Sure. I'll see you then? I have to get to my next class now," Rin answered. The two were currently at the end of a corridor that split two ways. Ruby realized that this was where they were going to separate, and waved before speaking.

"Okay! See you then bestie!" Ruby ran off as she said that. As Rin started to walk away, she barely heard Ruby whisper to herself, "_Bestie? Is that too soon?_"

Rin shook her head in amusement. Ruby was a nice but socially awkward girl. Rin started to skip happily down the hall, a smile on her face. She cheerfully hummed as she made her way to her next class.

Huh, that makes Ruby her first friend since she got to Remnant. Tukson's gonna freak out once he hears about this.

}-{

"So, she said yes?" Qrow Branwen said, taking a seat at the kitchen table while directing his question to his niece. The young cute one, not the awesome but slightly troublesome one. "Honestly, I would've thought she'd refuse."

"Yeah! I was surprised too, but it's totally gonna be awesome once she comes over to train with us," Ruby said.

"Well, I'll be. Now I have two brats to watch now. Is it too late to back out?"

"Uncle _Qrowww_~, you promised!"

Qrow groaned for a moment. "I know, I know. Your Dad told me to watch out for the little squirt, and I want to go and see this supposed friend of yours."

Rin smiled. "You'll love her Uncle Qrow. She's super-duper awesome. She's my age, but she can go toe-to-toe with Yang."

"Damn, anyone who can handle our little firecracker is someone to watch out for." Taking a pause to look behind him for a moment, Qrow lowered his voice as he made sure his other niece wasn't listening. "Try not to bother your sister too much. I found her hanging out around a bad crowd, and I had to bust her out of some trouble in Vale."

Qrow had taken time off from teaching at Signal to watch over Yang for the past week or so. During that time, Yang had gone through various seedy parts of Vale trying to look for leads through information brokers. Qrow eventually had to intervene when Yang started to mess around with the mafiosos of the Red Axe Gang. Yang should've been able to take out the rather weak goons, but one of them tried to sneak an attack while her back was turned, and Qrow had to intervene before anyone was killed.

And by anyone, he meant the men in suits. If the attack had landed, Yang's hair would've been damaged. And no one wanted that to happen.

"Is she okay? I didn't get to talk to her when you two came home."

Ruby sounded dejected when she asked, and to Qrow's horror, her face looked like she was about to cry. Nothing in life was worse than the horror that was a sad Rose. Her mother was the same as well. Quickly reassuring her, she spoke in a soothing voice, "She's fine. A bit tired and angry since she didn't find what she was looking for, but she's here. That's all anyone can ask for at the moment."

Ruby seemed to feel better once Qrow said so, and that filled him with relief. Sheesh, he had to console one angry niece already. Now he's making sure the other one's not sad at the former.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow. She's gonna take the day off school, and I'll be around the house to take care of her. Tell your Dad once he gets home not to worry, cause I'll be here in case anything happens."

"Won't telling him that make him super worried?"

"Damn brat, don't get smart with me," Qrow grumbled. Ruby giggled at his reply and Qrow eventually cracked a smile as well. "Now come one, let's talk about something less depressing. I heard from the grapevine that you had a sleepover with your new friend. That's nice. It's great that you're making friends on your own, and not just letting Yang hook you up with people she knows."

Ruby fidgeted.

Taiyang and Qrow often felt that this was a problem with the young girl. Give her a gun and she can dismantle and clean the thing with practiced ease, but place her in a playground or a group of kids her age and she becomes totally lost. Qrow thought she was okay as she was since his own social awkwardness lingered even in his Beacon days, but Tai seemed worried about her lack of 'close friends'.

"I'm not gonna get on your back about how you have to make more friends. I'm sure your Dad already nags you a lot about that. I'm just saying, you have an opportunity to grow closer to this Rin kid. Try to take advantage of it and grow closer." He tapped himself on the chest. "Kinda like me and your Dad. We were teammates, then friends, then brothers and now we're a mix of all of the above."

Ruby seemed to ponder over what he said, before nodding her head. "Okay! I wanna become even better friends with her. Just you watch! By the time the year's over, we'll be besties with our hips glued to the sides."

"That' a girl," Qrow grinned, tipping his head back to take a sip out of his flask. "Okay, you better get going to bed now. It's still a school night."

"Since when did you care about me getting to bed early," Ruby asked in confusion.

"Since I had to take sleepless nights to watch our resident sunny little dragon. Now go away so I can get to bed too," he grumbled.

As Ruby skipped away, Qrow sighed and thought about Tai and what he asked. Setting up a meeting between the brat and Goodwitch seems like a pretty simple thing to do. Qrow was planning on reporting to Ozpin this weekend anyways for an upcoming job. The two adults planned on making a family trip to Vale with the whole family, maybe even inviting the Rin girl too.

Strangely enough, Qrow hadn't met the young girl before. Which was kinda weird, since he's a teacher and she's a student in one of his niece's class. Then again, Qrow taught the more older students in advanced combat and tactics class, so it wasn't too much of a stretch that he never encountered the young girl before.

And what he heard about the girl from Tai seemed pretty strange. A strange name that didn't seem to be based on any kind of color as far as he knew. An adopted kid with a Faunus guardian who lives in Vale, somehow sending their kid to learn in Patch when there were perfectly fine schools in Vale. Glowing lines that appear on her limbs when activating her Aura. A strange Semblance that she claims is related to Dust manipulation, yet she never incorporates it into her combat style. And then Tai told him about their conversation about Wizards and seeing the future...

Did Ozpin meet the kid when she was young or something? Maybe he can ask him later when they meet up this weekend.

Qrow shook his head and got up from his seat to walk around the house. Tai was planning on coming home late, and Qrow made his way to the room he usually slept in whenever he crashed by the house. Passing by Yang's room, he peeked through a crack to check on the blonde and make sure that she was okay. Hearing her snores that seemed to echo through the room, he quietly closed the door and left to his room.

Taking Yang back to Vale so soon after she went on a spree through Vale's underground forces wasn't exactly a smart move. Yang had made a pretty big wave during her time out of school. Qrow reminded himself to talk to Tai about watching out for their more aggressive kid while they were out in Vale.

And what else is there? Oh yeah, making arrangements for a hotel for the four of them. This was supposed to be a weekend trip and not just a day outing.

Usually, on days like that, Tai would be a total daddy and get bulk groceries or look through furniture or appliances or something. Yang would check out some clothes at some brand name store or look at some sweet bikes. Ruby would probably check out some weapons stores or something. The entire family would go on a bulk shopping spree for a few days before going back home and never needing to go to Vale again for the next few months.

Didn't that Rin kid live in Vale or something? If one sleepover between the girl and Ruby helped spark a friendship, then why not go for two and try again with three girls this time? This way, Tai and Qrow can hang out at the bars without having to worry too much about the girls.

Heh, maybe Qrow can finally get Tai to loosen up and get a drink with the guy. God knows he needs it, being a single Dad and a teacher to a bunch of teenagers.

This is actually sounding like a pretty good idea after all. Huh, maybe Qrow can give Tai a call and ask for the number of the kid's guardian. Qrow's pretty sure that the guy can handle taking care of three girls for the weekend. What's the worst that can happen?

}-{

Tukson was making plans for his meeting with Goodwitch and making several proposals to how he would act as a Faunus mediator. Picking up his coffee mug, the handle suddenly snapped and the ceramic object crashed to the ground. He didn't know what was going on, but a sudden shiver down his spine told him somebody stupid had just effed him up _reaaal_ bad.

Somehow, he was blaming Rin for this.


	7. Sleepover

**A.N. (5/3/20) - Wow it took me a while to write this. I'm still releasing on Sunday like I said, even if it was a bit late (sorry about that). I realized that I never actually set a time for when I release a chapter on Sunday though, and now that I know I still don't want to have a set time. If I need a few more hours to write a chapter, I don't want to hurt myself by making a promise I can't enforce.**

**I've been reading through what I've written this past month and I'd say it's pretty okay for a first work (excluding my crackFic) even with the mistakes I've noticed. Anyways, school is going meh and I'm still sticking to a bi-weekly schedule. Honestly, I definitely needed an extra week if I plan to continue this. In exchange, I'll try to maintain a minimum of 3500-4000 words per chapter, instead of my original plan of 2000 words.**

**Also, due to poor planning, it looks like it's still ways off till Beacon starts. Expect more chapters of pre-Beacon life. Anyways, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 7 - Sleepover

-3 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Rin had an idle thought.

'How old is old enough to date?'

This was a hard question for Rin to answer. If she asked Tukson, he'd answer 'never' and shout out something stupid. But this was something that Rin thought about a lot during her free time. Putting aside her questionable sexual preference, it wasn't just how old she should be for it to be okay to date, but also how old her partner can be as well.

Even though she inherited and absorbed the memories of Erik, it wasn't like she automatically gained the mental state of an adult. This is due to the difference between semantic memory versus episodic memory. She could recall the nineteen years Erik lived, but she herself never personally lived it. Memory versus experience. It just isn't the same.

Note to self: look into the theory behind Reincarnation Magecraft.

So it's not like it's not okay for her to date people her age. She won't be seen as a child predator by other people. Only... there's still the fact that Rin is more used to people with more years under their belt. Dating thirteen-year-old kids seemed extremely pedophilic to her.

Why was she asking these questions?

"So, he asked me out on a date after class one day," was the line Yang used to start the conversation. "I said yes, and we went to see the new Spruce Willis movie. It was okay, but he was kinda weird the whole time. Kept fumbling the popcorn in his hands cause he was too nervous. You think I should take up his offer for a second date?" Yang asked.

"Nah! Who cares about him. Just stay at home with me instead," Ruby replied.

'Ughhhh,' Rin started to tune out the rest of the conversation the two sisters were having.

Rin wondered why she even bothered letting this conversation happen. The three girls were currently in Rin's room, and not her dormitory room but her actual room in Vale. They were in a large apartment that was directly above Tukson's Bookstore, where they were planning to stay over for the weekend.

After school, the entire family went with Rin to Tukson's store and the three adults helped Ruby and Yang move in with their small luggage. Suddenly finding herself preparing for an impromptu sleepover, Rin helped clean her room to have space for three girls to stay in. Right now, the three girls were on Rin's bed talking about various things.

Like boys... ew.

"So... what do you even do at sleepovers?" Rin asked.

"It depends," Yang shrugged her shoulders. "We can eat ice cream, talk about romance, play party games, watch movies. Really, as long as we're having fun it doesn't matter what we do."

"Oh! Oh! Let's bake cookies," Ruby cried out.

"Ruby, it's late and we just ate a while ago. Chill till tomorrow," Yang deadpanned.

"Ugh," Rin snuggled deeper in her sleeping bag. Mmm... this is nice. She should do this more often.

"Hey, Rin?" Yang looked at the girl that was almost completely encased in nylon. "Why do you have a sleeping bag? It's not like we're using your bed."

"No, no. I just... want to sleep in a sleeping bag," Rin tried to think of a way to explain it. "You know that nice feeling of just wrapping your whole body in something. Like a tight jacket or a comfort blanket. I get that feeling a lot whenever I feel sleepy, and I like to wrap something around myself when I sleep."

"Oh, I get it," Ruby cheerily replied. "I feel the exact same way with my hood. Especially whenever we go out."

"Ruby, that's just cause you're shy and you want to hide from any social interaction."

"I mean if it helps her—," Rin started, "then she can wear the damn cape if she wants."

"Hah!" Ruby zipped over to Rin's side and gave her a side-hug. "I knew you'd see my way. Capes for the win!"

"Ruby, try loosening your grip on her. I think you're holding on a bit too tight."

"C-Can't b-breath—"

"Ah! Ohmygawd, I'm sorry Rin!" Ruby backed off immediately and Rin loosened the zipper to free the top part of her body from the sleeping bag. Ugh, the trapped heat seemed to make her sweat a bit. Is it too late to take a shower?

"I-It's fine Ruby. How 'bout we just watch some movies?" Thankfully Yang took that moment to guide her sister to check up what looked interesting. "And no horror!"

"Aw~ too scared to watch?" Yang teased.

"Too tired to handle your sister if a jump scare happens."

"Hey!" Ruby puffed her cheeks. "I'm not t-that bad!"

"Ruby, you couldn't even watch the first ten minutes of The Huntress' Grudge. And that's for the really wimpy wimps," Yang commented.

"W-Well - maybe I've grown s-since then."

Yang ignored her sister and started to browse Rin's shelf. "Iron Robot? Nah. Captain Vale? The Hunters - Remnant's Mightiest Heroes? Wow, Rin why do you only have movies from the same studio?"

Well, it was pretty much a knockoff of the MCU. Rin felt justified buying it at the time until she later found out that it was just a bunch of B to C-Rated movies.

"Check the back. There should be some Spruce Willis back there."

"Ah. Got it." Yang pulled out a black case. "Hey, Rubes! Set up the player."

The three of them moved to Rin's bed as they set up a player connected to Yang's scroll, which was projecting a screen across the room for them to watch. Honestly, Rin still found it weird how technology developed on Remnant with their weird anachronism. They had advanced hologram projectors in their scrolls - which were basically super-advanced smartphones - but movies still had those cheesy early-2000's movie effects that made the Green Lanturn movie look impressive.

"Hey, Rin. Scooch over why don't you?"

"Yang, you have way more space than I do. You move."

"Girls," Ruby interrupted the two of them. "No fighting. Mr. Tukson told us off for that, and you shouldn't start one of your fights in Rin's home."

"Wait," Rin paused her motion of throwing a pillow towards Yang. "Why did you call him Mr. Tukson? Tukson is his first name."

"Huh? Then what's his last name?

Rin opened her mouth and raised her hand, only to slowly put it back down. Huh, is it weird that she's lived with the man for years now and she still didn't know? That's embarrassing.

"Anyways, let's just get this over with." Rin quickly changed the conversation and mentally made a note to herself about her previous line of thought. "Yang, you're on the far left. Ruby's sitting between us."

And for the next hour or two, that was how the three of them were. Rin and Yang with Ruby squished comfortably between them with a blanket covering the three of them. Popcorn fell on the blanket while they watched the more action-y parts of the film.

"Explosions don't work like that," Yang commented.

"Huh?" Rin wasn't an exact expert on the subject, so she was slightly curious about what Yang was saying.

"They just don't. A building doesn't explode in a mushroom cloud in real life. It just collapses inward from its weight usually."

"Oh, are we commenting on how wrong the action sequence in the movie is?" Ruby asked. "Cause there's a few things I can comment on. I mean, just look at those henchmen shooting. Atrocious. Why do all henchmen always have really sucky aim when shooting at the main character."

"I'm surprised you used a big word like atrocious."

And pretty much the rest of the movie was forgotten as the sisters went on a long discussion about fight choreographers and movie realism. Rin turned off the movie once it finished even as the two were still talking. It took them a minute after Rin cleaned up the rest of the fallen popcorn that they finally noticed how long they were talking.

"You done?" Rin asked with a raised eyebrow. The two sisters faintly blushed, but Yang quickly recovered.

"So Rin," Yang started off all of a sudden. "I kinda wanted to ask you for a while now, but how'd you come to live with Tukson? What's up with your family?"

"YANG!" Ruby looked at her sister in horror. "You can't ask something like that."

"Why not? I don't think Rin really cares if I just ask."

"Still! That's not something you just ask someone."

Rin started to laugh all of a sudden. "I-It's fine Ruby. I'm just surprised at Yang's blunt approach. Well... actually that should've been an obvious conclusion." Patting the top of her bed, she continued, "Well might as well get comfortable. This is gonna be a story."

Ruby and Yang leaned forward and waited with eager anticipation. Rin chuckled at the two's antics before taking the time to think.

"Well... I suppose I'll have to give a bit of context. Obviously you've figured out that Tukson and I aren't related by blood. And you probably noticed how my name's a bit strange not following the Color rule or whatever."

Yang nodded her head while Ruby's face lit up in realization. Guess she didn't notice. Now... how to tell a story without giving away the secret-y details on Magic.

"My parents were... researchers? Well, more my Dad. I can't remember what my Mom did anymore. Anyways, they were involved in a family tradition that took the form of a battle royale between several other groups. I don't remember the exact details since it happened when I was a kid, but apparently one of the contestants involved was actually a serial killer who accidentally got picked when there were no other qualified participants."

"WHAT!" Ruby exclaimed, shocked at how that happened.

"I know. And there was that one time I acted like a stupid kid and tried to chase afte— the point is, my parents got caught up in an attack by another competitor and lost their lives."

"Er— don't take this personally Rin, but your family has crazy traditions. I mean - sheesh," Yang commented.

Rin was about to continue the story when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. Ruby had slipped around Rin's field of vision and hugged her from behind. Rather than feeling embarrassed or comforted, Rin only felt a slight sense of amusement at the younger girl's attempt to cheer her up.

Even if she wasn't that upset from talking about the death of her parents.

"Anyways, I got adopted by my Dad's student who was a priest at the local Church. He basically raised me and taught me for the next few years, which was how I learned the basics of how to manipulate my Aura and Semblance."

"Oh yeah, you still have that weird freaky thing with your hands and legs," Ruby commented. "I didn't think that others taught you how to do that. I mean, logically it makes sense. But I didn't really think about who—"

"Ruby, I think you're getting off track a bit there." Thank you, Yang. Now, back to the story.

"Yeah. Anyways, a few years passed and one day I was in a well-known shopping mall from where I came from. Out of nowhere, an earthquake suddenly happens and the whole building started to shake." Rin paused for a moment. Earlier she talked about her life as Rin, or at least as much as the current Rin could remember about her original life. Strangely, the memories seemed to be fading in certain parts.

Now, she was going to talk about Erik. And how he... died. "Everyone didn't know what to do. For all the safety drills and practice procedures we learned, everyone was running around like mad chicken. I wasn't any better, barely moving around and just standing still." Rin hugged her sleeping bag closer to herself, and Ruby's arms around her tightened.

"The ceiling collapsed on me. I got hurt - hurt real bad." Yang looked at Rin worriedly for a moment. "A metal pipe had stabbed through my chest, and let me tell you I certainly didn't have Aura back then."

Rin touched the general area she remembered where the pipe stabbed through. "But since you know that I got out alright - on account of being... well, here - then you can figure out that someone saved me from dying. He used his Aura to heal me and had me teleported away. Got my body all tip-top perfect and dropped me off in Vale all on my lonesome. That's where I met Tukson."

"Cool! And that's when Tukson decided to adopt you and love you forever?" Ruby excitedly asked.

Rin snorted. "No, that's when Tukson found my idiot self next to a fallen trash can with a strong fever from haphazardly awakening my Aura. He had to take me to a cheap clinic, cause fuck hospitals and their stupid racism." Ruby was shocked that Rin actually cussed. She never cussed. "But anyway, once they checked me over Tukson made a deal with me. He offered that I'd help around the store doing some small labor and offered to adopt me out of some sense of pity or something."

And that's the modified version she'll go with. It's technically all true if you replace certain terminology like Aura to Magecraft. Better to stick to the truth and only sprinkle a hint of deception. That's usually how the best lies are told.

"Err— that's neat," Ruby awkwardly replied.

"Yeah, honestly wasn't expecting that much when I asked," Yang followed up. She looked at Rin nervously for a moment, "So... since you shared something personal about yourself, should I?"

"Honestly, I probably can guess what you'd say. I hang around your Dad a lot, so I know about your mother. But thanks for the thought anyway."

"Ugh! Too many sad stories! Let's talk about something else, preferably something happy," Ruby complained.

"Well... I guess I can talk about my book deal. Ruby already knows, but I'm reintroducing several stories to the public from where I used to live. It's pretty popular so far, and I'm getting some money for my experiments."

Every six months or so, Rin finished up a new manuscript that was as faithful to the original story while changing some parts to fit Remnant's standards. Right now there were four books out so far, so a lot of people knew about most of the important characters in the book.

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. Harry Potter or something?"

"Yeah. If you look at it closely, there are several parallels to how similar it is to Beacon Academy so it's pretty popular with the student demographic in Vale." Like Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Ozpin. Or McGonagall and Goodwitch. Binns and Port. Oobleck and... Flitwick? Now, Rin was imagining some students calling their Beacon Professors the names of their counterparts in the book.

_"Professor MgGo— err, I mean Professor Goodwitch."_

Rin almost snorted at that thought.

"Wow, Rin. Planning on entering the writing scene when you grow up?" Yang asked.

"Maybe, I dunno. If not, I'll probably work as a Dust specialist or some kind of Engineer. I hear they have some great jobs working with the Council."

"Wait," Ruby interrupted all of a sudden. "I thought you were gonna be a Huntress."

"Huh?" Rin was confused for a moment. "Why would you think that?"

The look on Ruby's face changed to a sad one, which surprised Rin for a moment.

"B-But you go to Signal Academy! The best Hunters Preporator school! You take Combat Classes and Weapons Development!" Ruby argued.

"Yeah, cause Tukson recommended me to and I thought it'd be nice to know some self-defense. No one said a scientist can't know how to protect themselves from Grimm." Or in Rin's case, prepare for any future attacks.

Where was Ruby going with this?

"B-But - you're totally Huntress material. Why can't you just be a Huntress instead."

"Ruby," Yang spoke from where she sat. "Not everyone wants to be a Huntress. Honestly, I think it's cool that Rin can be some badass scientist who can fight in a lab coat."

"B-But," Ruby stopped, then dropped her head. "Never mind."

Rin looked over to Yang in confusion, but the blonde merely shrugged her shoulders in response. Neither seemed to understand why Ruby became sad all of a sudden.

"So..." Yang awkwardly trailed. "One last movie before bed?"

}-{

Rin laid awake staring at the ceiling for the past hour or so. Somehow, she completely didn't think that Yang would be a loud snorer. Honestly, the girl sounded like a howling Beowolf during its mating season.

"Pst~ Hey Rin," Ruby poked her head from over the bed that Rin offered to her to sleep in. "You awake?"

"How can I sleep? Seriously, your sister's practically shaking the room with her breath."

Ruby tried to stifle her giggles but failed spectacularly. "Yeah. Even at home, I can sometimes hear her from a few rooms over."

"My condolences for living with her. I'm lucky Tukson doesn't have that problem." Rin got up from the floor, kicking Yang who was sleeping next to her. The girl barely budged, but luckily she didn't stir.

"Scooch over," Rin bumped Ruby over with her butt as the other girl made space on the bed for the two of them. "So... what's up?"

"I dunno. Been thinking 'bout things."

"Is this anything to do with why you got all sad puppy earlier?"

"Yeah. I-It's stupid," Ruby hugged her knees together and her blanket draped across her back. "I just thought - that since Yang's older and I don't really know a lot of people. And then we started talking and that's cool and you're totally awesome. But I wanna be a Huntress but I also want a friend. And I just got all sad and mopey thinking about that."

"I-I'm confused?" Rin tried to decipher the mess of an explanation that came from Ruby's mouth. Ruby was never really eloquent even at the best of times. "Is me not wanting to be a Huntress a bad thing." Some sort of stigma for those who go to Signal without graduating as a Huntress.

"NO! Gah! I'm not explaining this right," Ruby ruffled her hair in frustration. "What I'm trying to say is - I thought once we graduated from Signal, we'd go to Beacon together."

Oh. OHHHH!

Well... Rin didn't know what to say. Knowing what she did, Rin never even thought about enrolling in Beacon Academy. She already had a source of income, and she didn't exactly want to be a Huntress so she didn't need an education in Grimm slaying. She still had her research and Magecraft to develop. Honestly, the only reason she'd be interested in becoming a student at Beacon would be to interfere with the plot that may or may not happen.

But thinking about it, Rin didn't have to be at Beacon to interfere with Cinder. In the past few years, Rin managed to set up a few plans that would eventually pan out when she comes to Vale. The only reason she'd need to approach the school at all is probably to stop Cinder from planting the virus at the CCT. And she was pretty sure the dance was an open invite. Otherwise, she'd just hope Yang would let her join anyways.

But Rin never thought about how Ruby would feel. She knew the caped girl would enroll two years early, but Ruby didn't know that. From her point of view, she probably thought she'd enter Beacon without any friends and her big sister would be busy with her own team.

"Ugh, come here Ruby." Rin opened her arms and Ruby obediently nestled in Rin's awkward hug. Rubbing the other girl's back, Rin spoke with her eyes closed.

"I'm still gonna live in Vale, so even if you go to Beacon you can still see me whenever you want. Who knows, maybe you'll make a bunch of friends when you get your team. And even if your team is full of self-entitled pricks, you can always come here on the weekends to complain about them."

"Yeah. But I was always thinking that you'd be on my team. I'd shoot all the bad Grimm while you'd get any that comes close."

"Sorry that I don't want to be a Huntress. But still... friends?"

"Yeah, you ain't getting rid of me." The two looked at each other, then suddenly started to shake with laughter. They were quiet though since Yang was still sleeping on the ground next to them.

Rin suddenly remembered one of her old plans and hesitantly started. "Hey, Ruby. What if I told you I had a plan where you could get a chance to be on the same team as your sister?"


	8. Hidden Intentions

**A.N. (5/17/20) - Again, sorry for the late update. Again, my excuse is that I don't have an exact release time but I'll still release on the promised day.**

**I really want Tukson to be more involved in the story. I don't want to make any OC's that aren't E-Rin cause that's just a lot of work and not something I'd think a lot of people would like. Tukson is a great character to input a backstory and personality into, simply because he only had a few minutes of screen time in the show, thus making it easy to write out his interactions and personality.**

**Also, I should probably write down a proper outline for this story later. So far, I'm just writing this with only a small page full of small tidbits and a modifiable plan in my head. It's kinda annoying when I realized I forgot something that I thought of a while ago, only to have written most of the chapter already.**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 8 - Hidden Intentions

-3 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Tukson thought about hands.

Hands are nice. His hands were big and firm with callouses from hard labor during his time as a youth. And as a Faunus, his special characteristic of retractable claws made his fingers slightly different than other people. Still, Tukson reckoned that his hands were the type that was pleasant and firm. Good for hand-holding.

So it felt like a stab to the heart when Rin pulled her hand away from his when they were walking. What? Was he not cool enough to hold hands with anymore? Is it her rebellion phase already? Did he accidentally scratch her with a loose claw?

"Hey, Tukson. We're here. Stop dazing around and move already."

Oh, never mind. She was just opening the door for him. See, this is why Tukson loves Rin. She's always polite even if she does have a bit of a mouth. He nodded his head in thanks as he walked through the door, Rin following him after he entered.

The two of them were here for a little meeting with Ozpin. Well, Rin was here for a meeting. Tukson came to watch over her since for some reason neither Qrow nor Taiyang seemed to offer. Rin hadn't exactly stated why she wanted to meet with Ozpin. Actually, she privately told him she asked Taiyang to meet with Glynda Goodwitch, but later told him that she actually wanted to meet with the Headmaster instead.

_"Of course, I can't just ask to meet the Headmaster of one of the best Hunters Training Academies,"_ Rin explained a while ago. _"It's a lot easier to just meet with the Headmistress whose second job is to basically handle PR and answer any questions asked. Besides, I'd like it if I never have any meetings with Ozpin be on public record."_

Tukson privately thought Rin was overthinking it. He's sure that the Headmaster could always find some time to meet with someone if Rin asked nicely. It seemed a bit overcomplicated to try to meet the man by proxy.

The two found a blonde woman waiting for them at the end of the hallway, looking at some papers on a clipboard of hers. Glynda noticed Rin first, then her eyes trailed behind the girl to rest upon Tukson. She quirked an eyebrow, before smiling in amusement.

"I would have liked you to notify me if you wanted an earlier appointment."

Tukson sheepishly laughed and held the back of his head with his hand. "Yeah. I didn't expect to meet this early either. But then Rin told me about some meeting and I figured - hey - why not go with her and meet up with you."

"Oh?" Glynda looked at him for a moment, before looking at the clipboard she held in her hands. "Well, I guess we can fit some time in. Miss Tohsaka's meeting was scheduled for the next two hours, so there's a bit of leeway for anything extra."

Rin looked back and forth at the two of them in confusion. "Wait, you two know each other?"

"Ah," and Tukson suddenly recalled that he hasn't told Rin about his plans. "Yeah, we met a couple of days ago. I met her at one of those Faunus rallies at the plaza near our store."

The three started walking, with Rin and Tukson following Glynda.

"Ugh," Rin grimaced. "Did they cause any trouble?"

"No thrown beer bottles or anything. The VPD was there to watch for trouble. That's actually how I met Ms. Goodwitch here."

"Really?"

"Yes, Miss Tohsaka," Glynda answered for Tukson. "He had mistaken me for a regular passerby, and had called me over to warn me of the potential dangers of humans walking near a Faunus protest."

Rin snickered for a moment. "So what? I'm guessing he didn't know you were a Huntress."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up," Tukson sheepishly replied. Even now, it was still a bit embarrassing that he didn't recognize Goodwitch for who she was. "She told me she was helping with security. We talked a bit, and then I told her about an idea of mine about having a Faunus helping deal with the more diplomatic side of talking down protestors."

"We discussed a few points that we hoped to hash out later. But judging from his appearance here..." Glynda looked at him again, "we might have a little chat today." She then looked at Rin and stared without saying anything. It took Rin a moment to understand why she wasn't saying anything.

"Err..." Rin started. "I mean, sure! You two can talk and stuff. I can talk to Ozpin by myself. Don't worry 'bout me." She politely waved her hand back and forth, and Tukson inwardly laughed at how awkward his daughter was acting.

"Wonderful," Glynda followed up. "Thank you for understanding. I believe Ozpin wished to see you and discuss something as well. Do not be surprised if he makes a pitch to offer you a tour of our facilities."

Tukson thought to why the Headmistress of Beacon Academy even agreed to this meeting in the first place. Now it made sense. There were probably a ton of student tours that happened before. Potential students requesting a meeting to discuss their future and whatnot. Actually, why didn't Yang and Ruby come too? Couldn't Taiyang or Qrow bring them too? Is Rin the only one being shown around?

"Oh," and Rin laughed a bit. "I'm not sure the recruitment pitch will work on me. I don't plan on being a Huntress. I'm just curious at what Beacon's like."

"Mm, Tai did mention something like that. But you'd be surprised at how often potential students with similar mindsets come across us."

"Not me! While I only have a vague idea of what I want to do in the future. I don't think learning to be a kickass Grimm-slaying hero is on the agenda. Maybe a Dust researcher or something more aligned to my talents."

"And what a shame," Glynda said in a level voice. "But anyway, here we are." She gestured to a door that seemed to lead to a conference room of sorts. Opening the door, Tukson peeked inside to look around.

It looked like one of those teacher staff rooms. Where there was a little counter and sink filled with small snacks and a coffee machine already ready. A little table stood at the center of the room, and at the end of one side sat Ozpin himself. The man looked like he was in the midst of taking a sip from his mug, but lowered it once he saw who entered.

"Ah! Welcome, welcome." The man stood up and picked up a cane that was resting on the table near him. Walking over, Ozpin held his cane under the arm carrying his mug and reached forward with the now empty hand. Tukson reached out and took it, giving it a firm shake.

"Greetings. I'm sure you're already aware but I am Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy."

"Hello. My name's Tukson, and this here is Rin."

Tukson gestured in the general direction of Rin and noticed that his daughter was staring at Ozpin strangely. The man himself noticed and stared back, and the two had a strange moment where they both looked at each other for a whole minute straight. There was a weird mood in the air, and Glynda shifted uncomfortably from the side. Tukson coughed into his hand.

"E-Er, sir?"

The two stared at each other for another few seconds, before Rin hesitantly held up a hand. After a moment, Ozpin took it and the two shook.

"S-Sorry," said a flustered Ozpin. "What was your last name again?"

"T-Tohsaka," Rin answered, equally flustered. Uncharacteristically of her, Tukson noted. "I am Tohsaka Rin."

Huh? Tukson was confused for a moment. Rin never introduced herself like that before, with the last name before the first. It was kinda like how some Mistralians named themselves, but Tukson never figured Rin was like them. Then again, her name was kinda weird already compared to most folk.

"Any relation to Tohsaka Nagato?"

"Y-You know of him?"

"Mm, yes. If I recall my history correctly, he was accredited in history as one of the first few people who taught others how to manipulate and use Dust to combat the Grimm in early history. His accomplishments are well known to this day, even if no one actually knew much about him other than a few tidbits."

Huh? So Rin's descended from some famous guy. Weird, how Tukson never heard of him before. Maybe he should check it out later once he gets home. It sounds like an interesting conversation starter. Glynda coughed meaningfully into her hand, and Tukson saw Ozpin take the hint.

"But of course, I've been keeping us here. Come, come. Miss Tohsaka, would you like to take a walk with this old man?"

"Y-Yes."

"I'm staying here with Ms. Goodwitch to talk about something," Tukson said when it looked like the two were done talking. "Rin, are you sure you don't need us?"

"It would not trouble us much Miss Tohsaka if we were to talk after your session with the Headmaster," Glynda added. "We have enough time to discuss later plans."

"Yeah. I think I'll be okay on my own. Thanks anyway."

"Very well," Glynda turned to Tukson. "We can use this room, or move to my office if you prefer?"

"Whatever works. Can we use some of the pen and paper in this room," he gestured to the specified objects laying on a counter nearby. "I thought up a few proposals, but I forgot to write them down beforehand."

"But of course."

"Well then," Ozpin said. "I believe this is where we take our leave. Miss Tohsaka, if you will." He gestured for the other to leave first, and Rin spared a glance backward before she walked out of the room.

As the door closed, he heard Ozpin speak to Rin. "Now, Miss Tohsaka. I believe there is much to discuss."

}-{

Glynda finished the meeting with the other man and collected the papers on the table after he left. A bit over an hour had passed before the two of them felt that they discussed everything they needed.

The man Tukson had decided to coordinate with the VPD and Beacon defense roster for the next few weeks to see if this would help. Tukson had offered to work pro bono, but Glynda argued upward for a small commission depending on the performance and frequency of jobs taken.

Tukson had left already, having taken a Scroll call and leaving to pick up his adopted daughter. Now, she was just waiting for Ozpin in his office and counting the sounds and ticks from the gears above.

An elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal said Headmaster walking in. Glynda looked up and in her shock dropped the pile of collected papers in her hand.

Ozpin was... crying. Full tracts of tears were rolling down his face. His chest was heaving slightly - as if he was trying not to sob uncontrollably. A hand came up to wipe away at his face, and Glynda rushed over to him in worry.

"Ozpin? Are you alright?"

"I'm not alone," he said. Then he looked at her and gave her a smile full of bliss and excitement. "I'm not alone!"

}-{

Rin wished she had a Semblance. A personal superpower that would manifest based on how her soul worked, probably aligned to her Origin and Elements. Would be nice to have something useful if her Prana runs out. Sadly, she had long ago experimented with the idea of awakening her Aura and found that she had to settle with her Magic Circuits and spells.

Maybe she could've gotten a Semblance that allowed her to specifically punish stupid idiots. She'd certainly like it if she had one now.

"Roman! I said hold still!"

"Sheesh, kid. Stop yelling already."

Roman Torchwick winced as Rin held tightly on to his arm. Pulling out a Dust crystal from her belt - one made with multiple compartments to hold different crystals - she applied some Prana to the object and held the crystal over Roman's arm.

"Why can't you be more like Neo," Rin said as the glowing light covered Roman, fixing his bruises and realigning his bones. "She never comes to me for healing. You, on the other hand, make use of my services almost more than any of your gangsters."

"Hey! Don't call them gangsters. Call them mooks or mobsters. Gangsters sound unprofessional."

"Shut up! I was in the middle of something. I thought you were seriously injured or something when you made the call, not complaining about a fractured bone or two."

"A frac— hello?! I cracked my ribs and broke both my arms! How is that not serious?"

"Pah! Aura users are all wimps. You're all too used to having your forcefield protect you from the big injuries. You could've just called a regular doctor to deal with this."

"Yeah, but you're THE underground doctor we call. Besides, you're not doing this pro bono. I got you a crate full of Dust for your troubles."

"Weapon's grade or civilian refined?"

"Pst~ You know me. Only the best for you."

"Hmph," Rin poked his arm and noted that the muscles moved to repair themselves quickly while the skin finished growing back over them. Sheesh, what did Roman do today, crash his Bullhead? Then again, better not to hear from the man about any of his crimes. Plausible deniability and all.

A few years ago, Rin wormed her way into Junior's club and offered to act as a healer in exchange for Dust crystals and various ingredients she needed for her experiments. That was actually how she got the swallow for her Mystic Code. She needed the practice for her Healing Magecraft, and Junior was willing to pay for a good doctor to help his men get better. Eventually, she ran into Roman and Neo. And since then, they made use of her services while getting bolder on heists with the promise of full recovery every time they went out on a job.

Once in awhile, she'd ask Roman and Neo for help with some of her experiments. Who better to ask for help testing Bounded Fields than actually robbers and thieves. Of course, she didn't show them all her tricks. Just the more mundane ones. The real fun ones - like the dick rotting curse she read about in one of her books - she didn't dare to test.

Bounded Fields were always a fun subject for Rin to learn. It also helped that she had ample reason as to why she needed to protect her home. Tukson was not dying to teenage assassins in this timeline anymore. The first thing Rin had done when she mastered Bounded Fields was implement operation K.I.D.S.

Keep my Idiotic Dad Safe.

If anyone with malicious or ill intent were to enter the bookstore, well... heh heh heh. They'd get a warning - and only the one before they can no longer regret ignoring it.

Maybe she should ask Roman for help later to test an Anti-Grimm Bounded Field. It should be pretty easy enough if you didn't factor how the Military or Government might kidnap her for the knowledge of how to do so. That's another point with working with the wrong side of the law.

"Alright, I finished healing you. Get some food and water to recover some stamina and tell me if you feel any weird sensations in your arms. I'm still having trouble with bones, so tell me if they feel any different than they should."

"Thanks, kid. Neo!" He called his multi-colored companion over. "Take the kid and get her the goods."

Neo beamed at him and turned to grab Rin's hands. Rin scowled at the bright smile that rested on Neo's face and found herself being pulled by the annoying woman. Seriously, Rin never liked the tiny woman ever since they first met. But for some reason, Neo loved messing around with Rin. Maybe it was because she got riled up so easily every time Neo did something inappropriate.

"Hey, Neo. Tell Roman not to visit the bookstore for the next few days. I have a couple of Huntsman friends and Huntresses-in-Trainings coming about and I don't want the two of you getting in trouble with them."

Neo made a sign with her hands, and Rin took a moment to figure out what she was saying.

"Oh, Tukson? No, he won't rat you guys out. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know you guys are criminals. He might suspect Roman, but I don't think he'd really care if he figured it out."

Neo silently humphed, and beamed at Rin before leading her to another room in the warehouse she took Rin to. Gesturing to a covered up box, she pulled at the tarp and revealed the crate to Rin.

"Neo... did you steal this shipment from the SDC?"

Rin looked at the distinctive snowflake logo on the side of the crate and then stared at Neo who was whistling innocently to the side. Sighing, she pinched her nose.

"Neo! What were you thinking! Why couldn't you just steal from one of the shopkeepers I told you about? I gave you a list and everything about who's okay to steal from."

Yup. Rin had long ago scouted out the various shops and found which were okay to steal from. Mainly, she picked those who were insured properly or those who had racist Faunus views. It was a bit vindictive of her to specifically target the shop owners that made fun of Tukson, but Rin never claimed to be a good person.

"Ugh, never mind. You probably know what you're doing. Or, you probably know when to keep the trouble to a minimum."

Wow, even Neo didn't believe those words. Who was she kidding? This was Neo they were talking about.

"You know what, just have someone bring it to my workshop and we're good."

Rin had a little workshop of her own. One that Tukson didn't know about. It was for the really dangerous and sensitive experiments that no one should be near. Even Neo knew better than to enter Rin's workshop without permission, less she wanted her organs to liquefy or something.

Neo saluted Rin off but quickly leaned forward to give a quick peck on Rin's check. Cackling madly as Rin's face blushed, Neo grabbed the carte and her body exploded into glass shards before the woman and box disappeared. Rin, even as embarrassed as she was, took the time to admire Neo's Semblance for the sheer wonder of it. Was this an illusion that somehow bypassed Rin's Magic Resistance or was it actual teleportation? It's not like Erik knew everything about all the facets of RWBY.

Rin sighed and started to walk home. What was Tukson doing right now? She had left him after her meeting with Ozpin cause Roman called about a medical emergency, so she didn't know if Tukson went back to the shop or not.

Ugh, and now she was remembering her conversation with Ozpin. The meeting was... somber. She told him things that were... important. Honestly, she had second thoughts about the meeting, but it had to be done.

Wonder what's Ruby doing now. Rin smiled as she walked home.


	9. Graduation

**A.N. (5/31/20) - I'm posting early since for the last few weeks I've been posting later than it should have been. This is the end of what I dub as simply the 'Intro Arc'. The next chapter will slowly settle into the beginning of the show's story.**

**I planned on writing an Omake instead of the next chapter, but instead, I'll write a sort of transition Arc instead. It's kinda like a prologue for the next arc, taking place during the summer before Beacon.**

**Speaking of which, I created another story for all the Omakes and my initial drafts for chapters that never made it out. Check it out if you like. Some of it will be familiar to some of you since I just moved it from here to there. You can skip those if you want.**

**By the way, I say 2 years in this chapter, but it's more like 1.3 or 1.1 years before the FoB (Fall of Beacon). It's kinda hard to figure out how the school system in RWBY works, so I'm being vague on purpose. Starting after the next chapter, I'll need to research the RWBY timeline and measure chapters out by _months_ instead of years. yayy...**

**Anyways, enjoy the chapter. Also, there's a new drawing based on this chapter. Check the link out in my profile once you finished reading. It's titled [****Graduation].**

* * *

Chapter 9 - Graduation

-2 Years Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

This life is not a story.

That thought is something that Rin needs to remind herself once in a while. Rin sometimes feels that her current life is just a dream. Her memories of being on Earth were too strong to merely forget, and sometimes it made it difficult to accept that she now lived on Remnant. And it didn't help that she had memories of watching RWBY going through her head, reminding her that Remnant was the product of a Web Show.

But that's the Second Magic for you. Everything and anything is possible elsewhere in the Multiverse. Thinking too hard about it only leads to headaches and existential crises.

Sometimes, she still felt like the shitty priest will one day magically appear to tell her to wake up and stop dreaming. That this life was nothing more than the figment of her imagination. Then he'd probably beat the crap out of her during Martial Arts training and heal her while explaining the intricacies of Healing Magecraft to her.

But then there are those moments where she'd accept that yes - she does have a life on Remnant. That this is all real.

"And now, please welcome our graduates."

Rin clapped along with everyone else she was standing with. She saw Ruby clap loudly and wildly cheer every time someone went up to grab their diploma. People she recognized went up on stage to shake hands and take pictures of themselves with their proof of graduating Signal in their hands.

Graduation here was also something people celebrated apparently. Apparently, some things managed to stay the same across dimensions, and unfortunately, it also included tedious social occasions such as this. Graduating from Signal Academy was the equivalent of graduating from High School. Around half of those graduating are already planning on getting a job once they get their diploma. For those planning on furthering their education, only a small percentage will be applying for Beacon.

Rin broke out of her thoughts as she and everyone clapped again. And then eventually, someone she recognized went up.

"Ruby Rose. Please step forward."

This time, Rin smiled as she clapped loudly for her friend. She could hear Yang loudly whooping behind her, while Taiyang and Qrow cheered loudly from the sidelines. The family was drawing a lot of attention to themselves, as they were thus far the loudest cheerleaders of the day. Ruby blushed at the excessive attention she was getting, but everyone else took it in stride and cheered for the young girl as well.

In the past year and a half, Ruby and Rin had managed to finish most of their classes early to meet the graduation requirements. Taking advice from Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch, Rin and Ruby managed to create a workable schedule that managed to allow them to finish their courses - either over the summer or alongside their normal course load - without hurting their education from overwork or rushing through classes.

Ruby had finally shown her true colors once she got a few weeks into her lessons with Qrow. Soon, her previous lackluster combat grades began to improve like crazy - enough to have her actually beat those older than her. Rin, having sparred with Yang often due to their arguments, was already at the technical skill of being able to fight those older than her. But once she managed to refine her skills under the various teachings of Taiyang, Qrow, and even Miss Goodwitch she really rose through the ranks.

Speaking of Miss Goodwitch, the woman soon became a large part of Rin's life. The excuse Rin once gave Taiyang a long time ago soon became a reality when Rin found herself becoming a sort of apprentice to Glynda Goodwitch. Her studies in Dust Manipulation grew more profound, and Rin's respect for the blonde woman grew even more.

Other than their learning sessions though, the woman regularly came to Tukson's bookstore to meet with the man himself. The two of them were often working together over various matters of the city, specifically anything to do with Faunus and Human interaction. This meant that Rin met up with Miss Goodwtich almost as frequently as she did with Tukson.

It was mainly Miss Goodwitch's help that Rin and Ruby managed to handle their extra classes. Taiyang had initially been worried about Ruby taking on extra classes at first but soon accepted that Ruby wanted to become a Huntress as soon as possible. Yang thought it was great that Ruby was following her dreams, and wasn't too put off by the fact that her little sister would be in the same graduation year as her. It might have had something to do with the fact that Yang managed to keep her top student position in combat, graduating as Valedictorian of her year.

Say what you will about Yang, but with a Dad and an Uncle as Professors you can't skimp on academics.

As Ruby moved back to her spot, she looked over to Rin and gave her a cheerful wave while showing off the framed item in her hand. Rin gave Ruby an indulgent smile and laughed as one of the adults told Ruby off for distracting those around her.

And then, it was her turn.

"Rin Tohsaka. Please step forward."

}-{

"Woohoo! We're free!" Ruby ran across the lawn as she yelled at the top of her lungs in excitement. Rin had followed the two sisters home to celebrate, and currently, the three of them were playing around while they waited for the adults to come home.

"Aww, my baby sister's finally ready to make her way into the world."

"Yup! Look out world, cause Ruby the Huntress is on her way!"

"You know the two of you still have to finish school before you become Huntresses," Rin commented with a smirk. "You still got another four long years to go."

"Yeah, but that's different," Yang waved her hand in reply to Rin's words. "Students from the main four Academies are treated like actual Huntsman, even if everyone's still in training. You actually get people to listen to you, and you can go on jobs and stuff."

"Totally different from having teachers watch over you while you hunt Beowolves," Ruby whined.

"Or telling you you have to learn to use different weapons cause just in case," Yang followed up.

"Or how random people keep patting you on the head while smiling when you tell them that you're aiming to become the best Huntress." Rin could hear the whine in Ruby's voice when she said that.

"But damn, Rin. I'm still surprised that you're already getting a job out of school," Yang said. "I'd thought you'd go to some Engineering school or something, but getting a job from Ozpin himself. That's dope!"

"I-It's not that big a deal," Rin replied with an embarrassed look on her face. "I'm just gonna help with a few experiments in a workshop with a bunch of Professors. I'm pretty much just an intern that'll just help with other people's experiments. That's all."

"But didn't you say that you'll have access to your own research fund," Ruby asked with some confusion in her voice. "Doesn't that mean you'll be able to do your own projects? That doesn't sound like an intern to me."

"W-Well, yeah. But— "

"And aren't you technically part of Beacon's staff?" Yang asked. "Didn't you say that you have an entire office to yourself?"

"I-I mean..."

"And then there's the fact that you're 15 years old Rin," Ruby all but screamed in excitement. "And you'll be making almost as much money as my Dad does! That's not normal!"

Okay, that had to be an exaggeration. Rin couldn't exactly remember when she told Ruby how much she'll be making, but she knew what her paycheck looked like. And while she may be desensitized to the proper amount of money a normal person should have due to her dealings with book sales, underground criminals, and research funds for her Magecraft there's no way Rin missed the fact that she's making more than Taiyang.

...right?

"You got to admit," Yang spoke from the left of Rin. "It is kind of weird how much Ozpin is supporting you. If you were a few years older, I'd probably make an insensitive joke about you doing some pillow talk magic to get that kind of support." Yang gave a teasing grin after she said that, and yelped in pain when Ruby slapped her for what she said.

"Don't make fun of her."

"I wasn't, I wasn't! Sheesh."

"Hey, kids!" A loud voice made the three of them look to see who came. Coming into view were Taiyang, Qrow, and Tukson. Rin saw Tukson was carrying some kind of cooler, Qrow held a bag of groceries, while Taiyang had some kind of outdoor stove over his shoulder. "We're home."

"Dad! / Uncle Qrow! / Tukson!" Various voices yelled out at the same time, and the three girls moved forward to help them. Yang with Taiyang, Ruby with Qrow, and Rin with Tukson.

"We managed to finish up with our work after the ceremony, and Tukson managed to get us some stuff for a little BBQ party," Qrow said while indicating to the man himself. "We have to - after all - celebrate your girls' graduation."

"Aw, yeah! Bring on the meat!" Yang cheered while pumping her fist in the air.

"Did you buy cookies? Strawberries! Strawberry cookies?!" Ruby asked excitedly while tugging onto Qrow. "I don't even know if that last one is a thing, but I want it now!"

"H-Hey, settle down! I'm still carrying stuff!"

Rin ignored the family of four's antics and moved to talk to Tukson. "How's the store? You didn't close it today did you?"

"Don't worry Rin, we can take a day or two off if we really need to," Tukson reassured her. "But no, it's still open even now. Velvet's watching over for us, and she's got help from that Yatsa-something kid too."

It was a few months ago that Tukson finally caved in and decided he needed some part-time workers to help around the store. With all his extra responsibilities with Miss Goodwitch and how his store seemed to finally stabilize he needed more than one person manning the store at once. Rin was shocked to returning home one day to find Velvet Scarletina manning the register.

Apparently Miss Goodwitch had recommended the shy student to Tukson when he asked for help one day. This was apparently also related to their work on Faunus versus Human relations, as the poor girl had at the time recently been rejected from a few small businesses due to her obvious Faunus traits. Velvet, who was still a First-Year student, started working after class hours and soon became a daily part of Tukson's bookstore.

It was kinda funny whenever her team came by to tease the shy girl, but Rin soon got annoyed with Coco always pestering her to go on a shopping trip with her. No, she does not need to get new clothes. Red and black is perfectly acceptable to wear every day. Who cares that she's wearing almost the same variety of red tops and black skirts. That's her choice.

Once in a while though, when Tukson needed to go out on some business or school event related to Rin, he'd ask one of Coco's teammates to help man the register while Velvet does what Tukson would normally do. So Rin sometimes met up with Yatsuhashi or Coco or even Fox, which was weird cause he was blind but somehow managed to contribute.

"By the way, Velvet wanted to say congrats on graduating. Once we get back, apparently there will be some carrot cake waiting for us."

"Is it racist of me that I'm more curious about the stereotype she's playing into than thankful that she actually gave me something?" Rin wondered.

"Bah, who cares! That girl makes a mean carrot cake."

"Hey, Rin! Mr. Tukson!" The two of them turned to see Ruby shouting loudly at them while waving her hands wildly in the air. "Hurry up! Dad's already setting up the stove!"

"Alright! We're coming."

}-{

"Oh, damn! That smells good," Yang commented after she took an exaggerated sniff of the air.

"First round's up! Qrow, pass me a plate," Taiyang said while wearing a funny white apron with the words 'Cool Daddy Cook' on it.

"Sorry! I'm in the middle of a call now!" Qrow said while taking a second to remove his head from the Scroll in his hands.

"I'll do it. Here you go Professor," Rin said, passing the requested plate over.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Taiyang tutted. "Can't call me that since you graduated and all. I ain't your teacher anymore."

Rin gave the man a glare, but Taiyang held his gaze expectedly. After a few seconds, Rin gave out a large sigh and held out the plate again with a resigned look on her face.

"Here you go... Tai."

"Haha!" Taiyang loudly exclaimed. "I've been waiting almost two years for you to call me that!" Immediately after giving out another whoop, he took the plate from her and quickly filled it up with kebabs and various meat items. "Set this on the table. Make sure Ruby doesn't leave behind the vegetables."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it," Rin grumbled as she brought the large pile of food over to where Yang and Ruby were waiting eagerly. Immediately after Rin set the plate down, the two got into a small friendly sibling scuffle over who got to use the tongs first.

"Hey, Tai! We got visitors," Tukson yelled once he saw two people slowly walk towards them. Rin turned to look and was moldy surprised when it turned out to be Ozpin and Miss Goodwitch. Qrow saw them as well and hung up after a second. Looking closely, he was apparently talking to Miss Goodwitch as she too started to put away her Scroll.

"Good evening, everyone. I apologize for the interruption."

"_ohmygoshOzpin'shere_!" Ruby whispered in an excited voice. Now that Rin thought about it, this was the first time the young girl has actually seen Ozpin in person.

"Aw, no sweat Oz," Taiyang said walking up to them. "And hello to you too, Glynda."

"Good evening," Miss Goodwitch replied in a professional, but not distant, tone.

"Are you here for the BBQ? I think we got enough for everyone to go around."

"That won't be necessary, but nonetheless we appreciate the offer. I have a few things I want to discuss, but first I want to say my congratulations on your graduation." He gestured over to the three girls.

"Wow, that's cool of you to do so," Yang said with a big smile on her face. "You do this to every student?"

"Sadly no. While it is a treasure to see such wonderful students enter a new stage in life, I'm actually here for another reason." Looking over towards Rin, he beckoned her forward. "Miss Tohsaka, if I may have a word?"

Rin was confused for a moment before she shrugged and got up to walk towards him. The others noticed that this was probably something that the two would talk about in privacy, so they quickly moved away to their own devices. Rin noticed with mild interest that Miss Goodwitch immediately went up to talk to Tukson with a smile on her face. The inner shipper inside her roared at her to pay attention, but she ignored that feeling to instead focus on Ozpin.

"Greetings, Dumbledore."

Her words made Ozpin quirk a smile. Rin had sent him copies of the six published works of Harry Potter that were out at the moment as a gift one day, and ever since she'd had taken to calling him by that moniker. She was actually wrapping up the finishing touches of the last book and was planning on having Tukson later take a look at it.

"Ah, it's always nice to see you Rin," the two sat down on a wooden bench that belonged to Taiyang. "I'm assuming that you are curious as to why I am here."

"Kinda? I'm still thinking about my unfinished kebab." That's a funny word. Kebab.

"Quite," Ozpin chuckled for a moment before he turned to look at her with a serious expression. "...Amber ran away from Vale yesterday night."

"...oh." Okay, that was pretty bad. Like, _really_ bad. Rin never met the Fall Maiden herself, but according to Ozpin, the young woman was someone who hated staying in one place too long and loved to travel. Ever since Rin told Ozpin about a few things last year, Ozpin started to act cagey around Amber due to his paranoia of potential attacks.

To think she'd actually run off on her own. Ozpin told her himself that she was as good as dead if she was caught by surprise by Salem and her agents. Actually, she probably felt stifled by Ozpin's attitude and cagey nature. Or maybe this was something that would have happened anyway if Rin hadn't said anything. Who knows?

"Yes. I'll have Qrow track her down in the next few days. But that leads to another topic of mine." Taking a moment to pause, he continued on. "I heard about your plans on going to Mistral over the summer from Glynda. If I recall, your Crystal needs a Relic to function?"

"Yeah. I'm planning on connecting to the Relic of Knowledge. I don't think picking a specific Relic matters that much, but the Relic itself is something I'm interested in."

"I would figure any proper Magus would favor the Relic of Knowledge over the other Relics," Ozpin commented. "As a mere Spellcaster, I don't exactly have the same fixation. Sure, I know my way around my brand of Magic. But I'm more of a warrior than a researcher. So I'd like to ask... why not just connect to the Relic I possess?"

Rin gave it some thought. "I dunno? I can give you one of my reasons, but not my real reason. It's 'cause you're hiding it somewhere no one knows about. Even I don't know where you're hiding it, and I know a lot of things." Thanks, Rooster Teeth. "And I think it's best if I never find out. I told you about Lionheart and how he's a traitor. Have you looked into that yet?"

"Yes, Leo..." and Ozpin gave out a heavy sigh that radiated of mixed feelings. "I saw the reports of the patrols where Huntsman and Huntresses died inexplicably. I don't want to believe it, but my old friend is no longer on the side of humanity."

Rin almost followed up with "or Faunuskind" but figured Ozpin meant everyone in general not on the Grimm's side.

"But there is a danger in attempting to connect to the Relic of Knowledge. Even if you were to go unnoticed by Lionheart, you would still need the Magic of the Spring Maiden to access the Vault."

"Yeah. I... didn't really have a good plan for that. I have an idea that might work, but from Qrow's stories about his youth growing up in the tribe I'm not really one-hundred percent sure I'll make it out there without a scratch."

"Which brings me to a proposition of mine." Ozpin looked over to where everyone else was, and Rin turned to follow his gaze. Pointing towards Qrow, he continued on. "I'll have you go with Qrow during one of their sibling meetups. Qrow will try to convince her to let you use a portal to get to Mistral quickly, and hopefully, siphon some of the Magic mixed into her Aura through her use of the Semblance."

"Will that work?" Rin asked. Sure, she had a fair amount of knowledge on Magecraft. But Ozpin himself created the Maidens. He definitely knew more about that particular brand of Magic than her.

"Yes. The Magic of a Maiden is infused into their very being. Their Aura will surely be affected by such power, and Raven's Semblance will hopefully be enough to charge your Crystal."

"I-I, that's perfect!" Woohoo! She doesn't have to fight against the murder-hobo anymore!

"If everything goes well, this might not even take up a full weekend. So you won't have to worry Tukson by leaving the Kingdom for a few weeks."

Yeah, that was one aspect of Rin's previous plan that she didn't like. Sure, aircrafts would have probably shortened the time greatly compared to the show's Volume 4 traveling schedule. But still, that would have taken her whole summer up.

"Alright! Assuming everything goes well, I'll have a Servant by the end of the week. Wow, things really are turning up aren't they?"

"Hopefully our good fortune doesn't dry up anytime soon," Ozpin quipped. The two had a nice laugh over that, and soon they calmed down.

"...I do have to ask you for a favor though," Ozpin said after a while.

"Hm?"

"I know you seek the Relic of Knowledge out. Whatever knowledge you seek is probably something profound and out of my depth. I was never a proper Magic-user in life, but I understood how the Magi thought. You'll do anything to take this chance."

He took a moment to breathe before continuing. "But as a favor to me, and in case something goes horribly wrong, can you... spare a question? For the worst-case scenario?"

Rin grew silent as he said that. Ozpin didn't rush her for an answer, and the two continued to sit at the wooden bench for a while.

Rin slowly thought about what she wanted to ask. And then she thought of what she needed to ask. Honestly, the Relic of Knowledge was never something she thought she'd realistically get. Even though she planned on connecting to it, it was at best a haphazard plan that was probably not gonna work and wasn't needed anymore since Ozpin proposed his solution.

But now, she'll have the chance to have access to the answer to any two questions she had. There were many things she could use the questions on. How to master a True Magic. How to access the Root. How to travel dimensions with her own power. Yadda, yadda, yadda.

But now, Rin realized that she didn't need the answer to most of her questions. Sure, it sucks not having another option for figuring out how to reach the Root or how to understand True Magic. But Rin owed Ozpin. Not just for helping her out with their united goal to defeat Salem, but because of... other things as well.

"...okay. I'll leave behind a question for the Relic to keep."

"...thank you, Rin." The two sat silently for another moment before it was interrupted.

"Oi! You two gonna sit there forever or what?!" Yang shouted out.

"Hey, Oz!" This time it was Qrow. "You sure you don't want to eat anything. Glynda's already chowing down on the grub!"

Ozpin let out a chuckle and lifted himself up to stand. Rin got up soon after him.

"Well, let's not keep them waiting. I suppose I can spare another hour to partake in a meal. Shall we, Miss Tohsaka?"

"Yes, Dumbledore." Together, the Wizard and the Magus walked side by side towards the gathering of their friends and family. At that moment, they chose to ignore the troubles creeping in on them and focused on the present.

Rin smiled at a scene of Ruby reaching upward for her plate being held out of her reach by her Uncle Qrow. Soon, the story was going to start, and her responsibilities will only increase. But for now...

Rin took a bite out of her kebab. Mm, Taiyang's really good at this!

Now... it's time to just enjoy the moment.


	10. Transition Period

**A.N. (6/14/20) - Sorry that this came out so late into the afternoon. I wanted to add a lot and I didn't want to split this into two chapters, so that's why this chapter is a bit longer than usual.**

**This is all taking place during the summer before the school year. I'm planning on focusing less on Rin's perspective from now on, only once in a while like other characters. This is a crossover after all, so I need to focus on the RWBY side of things as well.**

**By the way, I finally decided what Heroic Spirit is going to be summoned first. I thought hard about it, cause arguably the Servant that's gonna be summoned can easily defeat the story's main antagonist without difficulty. Yes, I'm talking about Salem. But since her location is still unknown, I'll roll with this Servant for now.**

* * *

Chapter 10 - Transition Period

-1 Year Before The Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Jaune Arc stood before the large man with a hint of sweat on his brow. Looking back over his decision to come here, he was regretting not bringing proof that he was actually - you know - allowed to be here.

"Kid, what d'ya want?! I already told you to beat it."

"But sir," Jaune flinched when the man actually growled at the formality. "I already told you. I'm supposed to meet someone in the VIP lounge."

"And I already told you. If you don't have any money, no invitation, not even the name of who you're supposed to meet, then you're out of luck." The bouncer shrugged and waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Now beat it."

Jaune's shoulders slumped as he walked away from the door. The line that grew behind him finally started to move again, and a few patrons gave a quick glare at him for holding them up. Dammit, now he's gonna have to wait in line again. That is if he's still not kicked out like before.

Life really isn't working with Jaune here. First, he accidentally bumped into a pink-haired girl earlier forcing her to drop her cone of ice cream. After apologizing and offering to pay for her, he brought her to an ice-cream parlor to pay for another scoop. Then, after she had chosen what she wanted and started to leave the shop, he realized that he somehow lost his wallet right as he was in front of the register. And the girl had already left him at that point since Jaune said he would pay for her as she left the door. Luckily the ice-cream man had waived his mistake after he explained, but then Jaune realized that he didn't have any money to pay for a taxi to take him across town.

And then it came back to this moment, where he apparently couldn't get inside since he lost his Scroll and wallet. The wallet was something Jaune could afford to lose, but his Scroll had a lot of things. For one, it had his invitation that he was supposed to use to get inside.

Jaune let out a frustrated puff of breath. Seriously, how was he gonna get into the club? He was supposed to meet with a forger so that he could get his academic records updated to look good for Beacon's inspection. It's not like he can wait any longer since Beacon's application process required transcripts to be sent at least a few months before the new term.

He paid good money to make sure that this would work. One of his sister's ex-boyfriends helped hook him up with a contact he got from one of the Suits from a local gang. Jaune didn't really know all the details, but apparently if you're looking for any sort of crime in Vale you go to Junior's club.

He had left home a couple of days ago with the reluctant blessings from his parents. Jaune's dream was to enroll in the prestigious Beacon Academy in hopes of becoming a Huntsman. Sure, he didn't have the academic or physical training most other kids got when they apply for enrollment, but that's not gonna stop Jaune. Sure, he didn't have a cool mechashift weapon or even money to buy a set of full armor, but that's not gonna stop Jaune. Sure, he... doesn't even have the fake transcripts that'll let him apply for Beacon, but that's not... gonna...

"Why does this have to happen todayyy~" Jaune sighed. Who was he kidding? Already, everything was going wrong and he hasn't even applied for school yet.

Turning around, he stared at the club and continued to stare as customers continued to trickle inside. A voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey! You, with the blond hair." Turning to look, Jaune saw a cute girl in red jog up to him. She was shorter than him, and she looked a few years younger than him too. Holding out something in her hand, she asked with a tilt of her head. "Is this your Scroll?"

Jaune checked and saw the familiar object in her hands.

"Holy— Thank you so much. I've been freaking out since I need this to get inside and the guy up front kept telling me I couldn't and—" Jaune's rambling was interrupted by the girl.

"Woah, slow down big guy."

"Oh, sorry." Jaune suddenly thought of something. "Wait, how'd you know this was my Scroll?"

The girl smirked and looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter. Pointing to his hand she answered, "I checked the lock screen."

Jaune unlocked his Scroll and saw an embarrassing background of him with all seven of his sisters. This particular photo was when they all decided to give him make-up and dress him in woman's clothes. Not to the extent that you couldn't recognize him in the center of the photo though.

With a burning blush covering his face, Jaune awkwardly laughed as he tried to play if off. "T-Tha, m-my sisters seemed to have... erm... played a prank on me." Seriously, this wasn't his background last time he checked... three days ago. What happened to his Pumpkin Pete background?!

The girl smiled, then held out her hand. "Rin Tohsaka, nice to meet you."

"Jaune Arc." He shook her hand. "Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love them."

"Do they?" She tilted her head.

"Well... no."

"Whatever. So you said something about needing to go inside?"

"Wha— oh, shoot!" Jaune totally forgot about that for a moment. "Sorry about this and thanks so much, but I really have to go an—"

"Don't worry, I got this." Pulling his arm with a surprising amount of strength, she pulled him back towards the front of the line. "Hey, Frank! He's with me."

The bouncer, Frank, looked over to them and his body jumped in the air. "O-Oh! G-Greetings, Miss Tohsaka."

"I think he's meeting with Torchwick, which is a funny coincidence since I also need something from him. Tell someone to get Roman to talk with us."

"R-Right away, Miss Tohsaka." And to Jaune's amazement, the man called forth a bunch of people to suddenly escort them indoors. What the hell is with this treatment?! And no one outside complained either when the two of them were allowed to cut them. Is this normal?

"Hey, Kid! What's up?" An orange-haired man dressed in white suddenly came out in front of them. "Taking a break from the ol' bookstore?"

"Yeah. Velvet's on shift and I figured I'd tell you that I'm gonna be gone for the next few days. I just wanted to let you know in case you get any ideas on being reckless while on a job."

"Please, no more lectures." The man whined. "I get enough of them from Neo, or whatever she does with her nonverbal aggression."

"Yeah, yeah. Oh, before I forget," she turned to point to Jaune. "This here's a customer of yours. Something to do with your services I'm guessing."

"Hm?" Turning to look at him, the man's face suddenly smiled. "Oh, yeah! The transcripts, right?"

"Y-Yeah." Oh, so this was the person he was supposed to meet. "J-Jaune Arc. Short, swee—"

"I'm gonna cut you off right there Jaune," Rin interrupted. "That line just doesn't work."

Yeah, he figured.

"Well, I said what I wanted so I guess this is goodbye. Bye Roman, bye Jaune." Rin waved at them before slowly turning back. Jaune gave a quick wave back before she did, and Jaune watched as she left with the mooks following her.

Turning back to Roman, he awkwardly shuffled his feet. "S-So, how's this gonna work?"

"Oh, don't worry. Normally I'd take you through this long and complicated process, asking you everything about yourself and whatnot. But I'd figure it'd just be easier to give you this." Passing him a vanilla folder, Jaune took it in his hands and looked inside. Eyes widening, Jaune almost missed what Roman said next.

"That's everything you'll need to get in. I already sent you an electronic copy so that you can just mail that to Beacon. That should be everything and more you'll need to get in."

"W-Wow! Thanks so much! How'd you even get my information?"

"Well..." Roman trailed off with a smile on her face. "Let's just say your Scroll didn't just drop on the ground for Rin to pick up. It might've changed hands a few times before it got to her."

Jaune was confused by that for a moment before he was being ushered outside by Roman. "Now get out. You got everything you need already, so go off and do some partying or something. Maybe sneak a drink out or something, I don't care."

"W-Wait! What about your payment!"

"Don't worry, you already paid us." And with those cryptic words, Jaune was unceremoniously thrown outside the club. Picking himself up while groaning, Jaune wondered where to go next.

Luckily he had his Scroll back again. And he still had a bit of money saved up in his account. Since he's staying here for the next few weeks, maybe he should get a job so that he can pay for rent?

Didn't Roman say something about a bookstore? That sounds like an easy job for someone like him. Whistling at his luck, Jaune started to walk off cheerfully into the distance.

}-{

**~The Next Day~**

"Okay, Blake! You can do this..."

Blake watched the large line ahead of her slowly move forward. She clenched the book she grabbed in her hand and tepidly took a step forward.

With all of the chaos of the past few days, it was rare for Blake to find a moment to herself to relax. What, with not only betraying the White Fang - the organization she dedicated her whole life towards - as well as causing one of the worst breakups in the history of dating, she really needed this for herself.

Today was the first public appearance of the author of the popular Harry Potter series. Not just that, but because this was the day the last book released, the Author was hosting a public signing for the book's debut.

Blake recalled the day she first heard of the series. It was around a year ago just after a bad mission, where a raid on Atlas cargo ended up with a few casualties. Blake had been told to take the next few days off as a break, and she found herself browsing a small bookstore for something to read.

Even though the story protagonist was about a Human, the accounts of abuse and escapism in the first book tugged at something inside of Blake. Soon, she found herself reading all of the books during her spare time.

"Next!" Oh, wow. The line had shrunk that fast?! Moving forward quickly, she went up to the table where the signing was supposed to take place.

Blake found herself staring at the supposed author of the best book series she's read so far. Blake never really gave much thought as to what the author looked like before. She imagined that the author would look like either the grizzled hardened author or the adult with a nice atmosphere surrounding them. Instead, she saw a teenager dressed in red and black staring back at her.

_'She's younger than me!'_

"Who am I writing this out to?" Blake found herself returning to reality as she realized that she was holding up the line. Quickly giving the girl the book in her hands, Blake took a moment to compose herself.

"Blake. Blake Belladonna," she answered in a calm voice.

"Are you a Huntress?" She gestured to the weapon hanging off Blake's back. "I'm guessing Beacon?"

"Yes. I just got my acceptance letter. I just need to pass the Initiative and I'll be enrolled."

"Cool, that means I might see you this year."

"You're enrolling?" Blake asked with some curiosity.

"Nah. I'm Ms. Goodwitch's assistant. She's the Combat Instructor. My friend's enrolling though, so you might see her this year too. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." She held out her hand "My name's Rin Tohsaka."

Blake shook Rin's held hand while the other was signing the book Blake set down. "To - Blake - Belladonna - Enjoy - Your - Hogwarts - Letter - And - Have - A - Great - School - Year - At - Beacon!" Snapping the book shut, Rin held it for Blake to take back.

"It was nice meeting you," Blake said as she started to move.

"You too! Good luck getting into Beacon. Hope to see you later!"

As Blake left the store, she bumped into a blond boy - causing her to drop her book.

"Oh! Sorry about that. Here, let me." Quickly bending down, the boy picked up her book and returned it to her. The boy awkwardly apologized. "I'm really sorry about that."

"It's okay. Just an accident." The two split ways, not knowing that they'll be meeting again later.

}-{

**~A few days later~**

_'Oz better hope this works,'_ Qrow thought bitterly. Qrow tried to push down the urge to order a drink since he was planning on working the next few minutes sober. Or as sober as Qrow usually gets. Totally had nothing to do with the fact he was also with a kid.

Currently, he was in one of the bars that he usually met with Raven at. Rin sat next to him with her head buried in a book of hers. Qrow took a peek at the title and read the words '_The Man With Two Souls'_.

Qrow chuckled under his breath as Rin gave him a weird look for doing so. He remembered reading that book once too when he first learned about Oz and his little reincarnation schtick. As far as Qrow knew, the book doesn't outright state that it was about Ozpin, but the author might've been someone Ozpin knew in the past who based the story off of him.

"Hey, Qrow?" Oh, the kid's talking to him now. Pay attention! "I never really thought about it before, but are you religious?"

"Hah?" That's a weird question, one he wasn't expecting at all. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"Well, I mean..." she trailed off, her handheld upward trying to convey the meaning of her words. "You know about Ozpin and about his curse. You know about Magic and stuff, but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean that you believe the Gods are real. I'm just curious about what you think since you're one of the few individuals who have the unique experience of actually verifying the myth behind the myths."

Qrow took a moment to think. "Honestly, I'm the kind of guy who cares more about the things that can show up in my life. For me, that's Grimm and Magic. I don't really care too much about the Gods, save for the context when dealing with magic shenanigans. It's not like they're around to complain or anything. We're just the people who're tasked with dealing with their leftovers."

"So you believe in them, but only in the sense that you acknowledge their existence and you don't really care for them otherwise." She said it more as a statement than a question.

"I guess." This wasn't exactly a topic Qrow thought about much, but he guesses it's kinda interesting. Beats doing nothing while waiting for his sister. "What about you? You religious?"

"I used to be. I kinda had to, growing up with a priest for a guardian for a few years. I used to follow a unique sect of Catholicism that didn't really have a large following. Then I found myself living with Tukson and I eventually stopped practicing."

"Hm," Qrow hummed to show that he was paying attention, even if he didn't really know much of what she was talking about. The two waited for the next few minutes in silence until the sounds of steps alerted them to their visitor.

Raven Branwen took a moment to look at him with a cold gaze. Her eyes drifted for a moment to Rin, before she blinked and pulled out a seat. "What do you want?"

"Raven, what's up!" Qrow said with false cheer. Next to him, Qrow noticed Rin putting down her book. "How ya doing'? How're the kids?"

"Qro—"

"Oh wait, you wouldn't know since you're never around." Okay, maybe he shouldn't antagonize the murder-happy bandit when he's supposed to be asking for help. But come on, it's Raven.

"I don't have time for your games. The Grimm have been acting up recently and I am spending my precious time coming here because you said you needed a favor." She crossed her arms and glared at him. "So talk. What do you want?"

"Alright, alright. Jeez," Qrow held up his hands in mock surrender. Rin was keeping quiet by his side, just like he discussed with her beforehand. "I need a portal for the kid to Mistral. As close as you can to Haven Academy. Oh, and also another one for the road back home of course."

"And why would I help you?" Raven asked with a quirk in her eye. "What can you give me in return for this favor?"

"What? Can't help out your old Bro once in a while?"

"Really?" Raven gave him an unimpressed look. "You're playing the family card when it was you who left our tribe?"

"Kettle calling the teapot black or however that saying goes," Qrow waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Forget it. Let's stop here before we go into another one of our debates over the meaning of family. I do have something that might interest you if you help us out."

"Oh?" Raven watched as Qrow turned to look at Rin and nod. Rin pulled out a small metal box from underneath the table around the size of her head. She gently set it on the table and pushed it closer to Raven. Raven looked to him for a moment, and Qrow gestured her to open it.

Slightly curious, Raven removed the lid and peered inside. Qrow had already seen it once before, but even he couldn't help but take another look.

Inside the box was a strange metal spherical frame that looked like three intertwining rings. At the bottom of the intersection of the three rings was a large groove with a canister inside. Without the box covering the contraption, the room seemed to fill with a strange feeling in the air.

"Magic," Raven hissed as she realized what she had in front of her. "What's Ozpin's game."

"Like I said, we just need a favor. This is a little ball that makes something called a Bounded Field, basically a kind of tool that makes that 'stay away' feeling linger in the air. This specific Bounded Field makes it so that Grimm have a harder time getting close once you set it up."

Raven's eyes widened at those last words. Qrow almost laughed out loud at her expression. Oh, if only she knew that this was the 'failed' version. Rin and Ozpin had worked together for a few days and have already created a dozen or so of these that made it so that not only would Grimm be unable to penetrate certain Bounded Fields, but they would also be completely destroyed.

"We have a couple of these around, but it's a little hard to explain to others how this works. We can't exactly say it's Magic cause they'd think we're crazy. So we figured you'd like one since you're probably the one who needs it the most." And Qrow knew she couldn't refuse this. For all her talk about the strong and weak, she cared for her tribe. If she could get something that could lower Grimm attacks to a minimum, she'll do almost anything in return.

"...this is impossible. You and I both know that Ozpin is only capable of cute little tricks in his current state. Something like this is impossible for him." Raven's eyes turned to look at Rin. "So how's she involved? Is she another one of your Maidens? Which one is this? Obviously not Winter, and I think I remember you having Fall already."

"M'not a Maiden," Rin mumbled under her breath. Speaking louder this time, she introduced herself. "Rin Tohsaka, Magus and last of the Tohsaka line. I'm another Magic-user. Not as powerful as Salem, but arguably better than Ozpin."

The fourteen-year-old kid claiming to be better than a reincarnating Hero seemed to take Raven by surprise. "There are _more_ of you out there?!"

"Nope. Just me, special circumstances." Those circumstances being sent from another dimension, so yeah. At least Qrow had the reassurance that Rin was a special case and that Wizards and Witches won't be popping up left and right. All Raven could see was that there was someone else like Salem and Ozpin and the thought that there might be more of them worried her.

"Ozpin and I worked together to make this for you." Rin pointed to the box on the table and started rattling off a bunch of instructions. "It's just a basic security system that makes Grimm not want to come near it. It works as a perception filter that makes Grimm not want to notice you. Once you set it up in an area, it'll stop working if it's moved or the energy runs out. To set it up, insert a full canister of grounded Dust inside and the ball will hover in place. Any kind of Dust will do, and you can switch out the canisters once the energy starts running low. Right now, it's running on empty so it's technically turned off."

Raven took in her words before rubbing her forehead. Qrow watched in amusement as Raven let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine, can't complain when you give a woman something like this. Alright, you'll get your portal and I'll wait on you when you get home too."

"That's all we wanted." Qrow was about to stand up when Raven suddenly gripped onto his arm. Rin tensed, preparing herself in case this turns ugly.

"If Salem finds out about this girl, she's not gonna go easy anymore. Your little game of chess... it only works if both sides are too passive to commit to anything big. But the girl... she's a big game-changer. She's another King or Queen all by herself. This isn't like the Maidens, this is more than that."

"Ahem, this _girl_ can handle herself just fine," Rin stated with some annoyance.

"Do you even know what you're getting into?" Raven snapped back, letting go of Qrow's arm. She turned to look at Rin. "If you ally yourself with Ozpin, Salem will go after you with all she has. Ozpin will say he can protect you, but he will fail. He'll hide in his tower right up until Beacon falls and the Grimm starts surrounding you."

Qrow winced at her choice of words. From what Rin has been telling him, that's exactly what would have happened in some version of their future. Raven may be a coward for staying on the sidelines, but her words always seemed to cut too close to the truth.

Rin stared back at the black-haired woman with steel in her eyes. "I'm not running away."

_'Like you'_ were her unspoken words.

Raven stared back at her. "Then you're an idiot."

"I'm a Magus. Totally different."

"Oh? How so?"

"To be a Magus is to be inherently different from normal people, following a certain set of ideals." She started listing off sentences in a no-nonsense tone. "Those who aim further for other's sake; those who think of others before themselves; ...and those who hate themselves more than anyone. These are the qualities of a Magus. This is a contradiction you can only have if you are born broken. I only know of a few people who have fulfilled all three conditions."

"Heh," and to Qrow's utter amazement, Raven started laughing. "Oh, damn. You got spirit, kid. Still think you're an idiot, but I gotta respect ya. Alright, alright. Let's get this show on the road." Pulling out her sword, she swiped the air next to her - causing a pulsing red portal to open. "You coming kid? I'm guessing Qrow's staying since I need someone to return you to."

"Yeah, yeah. He told me how your Semblance works," Rin grumbled. Qrow watched as Rin got up from her seat while Raven packed away the box with her gift in it. He stayed seated because he couldn't go with them for a few reasons.

First, Raven's Semblance needed destinations to work. Her Semblance, Kindred Link, allows her to create portals to people with a strong bond to her. If Rin wanted to come back home, then Raven's only options were Tai, Oz, or himself. And out of the three, she was least likely to stab him. _'Or in Tai's case, pry off her with a crowbar. Hehe, Qrow-bar.'_

"Just drop the kid back to me when she's done."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Goodbye, Qrow." Raven stepped through her portal, and Rin stepped in after her.

"See ya later, Qrow." With those parting words, Rin completely stepped into the portal and after a few seconds, the portal disappeared.

Qrow sighed and got up from his seat. Now that he took care of one teenage girl, Qrow left the bar to look for another one. Amber had been sighted nearby and according to Oz, she might have cooled off from her tantrum by now.

Hopefully, he can convince her to come home without too much trouble.

}-{

Rin walked through the gates of the Academy, noting that there were few students around. Raven had dropped her unceremoniously onto a tree nearby the school and had flown off before Rin could let out a few choice words. Rin looked around the somewhat familiar Asian aesthetic and admired the architectural designs she rarely saw anymore.

According to Qrow, there should only be a few custodians lurking on school grounds. Most of the teachers were either at home or busy elsewhere, including Lionheart. Rin felt for the Crystal in her belt, noting that the trace Magic was still inside of it. Ozpin's theory had fortunately worked, otherwise, she might've had to resort to something drastic.

Speaking of which, Lionheart is probably going to get a few surprises in the next few days. Nothing too serious as an 'unfortunate accident' but more along the lines of 'oh shit, I'm getting fired' thanks to the efforts of Ozpin. Ozpin apparently didn't want to spook Lionheart too early, so he was throwing around deals with the Mistrilian Government to conduct a jump on him later. The group that's tasked with capturing him are a bunch of Huntsman and Huntresses Qrow trusts that either had friends killed due to Lionheart or they themselves had some beef with the man.

Karma can be a total bitch sometimes.

But let's ignore the politics and get to the real fun. Rin stopped and stared at the statue of Jinn herself. Rin took a moment to admire the details before she got to work.

Rin didn't have the key that allowed the statue to lower the platform, but she did have Structural Analysis and Projection Magecract. Creating the pocket watch needed to activate the mechanism, she placed it in the hollow slot on the chain around the statue's waist. Slowly, the platform underneath the statue lurched and began to lower itself. Stepping on the dais, she watched her surroundings change.

_'Huh, it's just a really complicated elevator,'_ Rin remarked as she watched the glowing blue lights pass by every once in a while. Soon, she began to see her destination and Rin found herself staring at the strange tree that was part of the vault.

"Is the tree just part of the aesthetic? Or does it actually have some purpose to the dimensional folding that's happening here?" Rin wondered out loud. The platform soon stopped, and Rin walked forward to the vault door. Rin walked up to it, taking the Crystal out of her belt and raising it in the air. Placing the Crystal against the door, the seal soon started to unravel.

The door opened, and inside was a strange desert. Rin felt the air and found it extremely different from Remnant's atmosphere. It felt like she was in a complicated Bounded Field that was supposed to mimic the atmosphere of the Age of Gods, the Remnant version at least.

Whatever, she could take her time to study this later. Her goal is more important right now.

Floating in front of her was the Relic of Knowledge. Considering for a moment whether she should use a question first, Rin figured she'd have time later. Rin felt the Crystal in her hand start to glow, and without any more prompting, she held it forward. The Crystal itself seemed to float towards the Relic, and the two touched.

From underneath the Relic, a summoning circle appeared and a ring of light slowly started to circle the Relic. Spinning faster and faster, a burst of energy and a pillar of light came into existence. Rin closed her eyes and covered her mouth as a strange mist filled the area.

A figure stepped forth. The Servant was cloaked in a black cloak and was shorter than Rin. Still, Rin could feel the sheer presence the figure gave off, and she almost collapsed on her knees from the drain of the whole process.

Rin started to giggle, then laugh out loud as she saw who she summoned. Remembering a certain line from Fate/Zero, she started to quote her father while raising her arms in the air triumphantly.

"We won this battle, Ozpin. Victory is ours!" Because with _this_ particular Servant, Salem would lose no matter what.


	11. Beacon

**A.N. (6/28/20) - I'm moving my Author's Notes to the bottom now. I'm just changing the format a bit in response to the new arc. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 11 - Beacon

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

The hum of the airship didn't help much in calming down Ruby's nerves. Neither was Yang's attempts at cheering Ruby up.

"Oh, come on Sis! Everyone at Beacon is gonna think you're the bee's knees," Yang proclaimed loudly, causing a few giggles nearby.

Ugh, this is so embarrassing. Yang means well, but well she's... Yang.

"I-I don't think I want people seeing me that way." And yeah, sure she graduated two years early (thanks Rin) so Ruby knew that there might be a bit of a spotlight on her. But it's not like she's the best student around. Look at her sister! She graduated at a normal pace, but her combat skills are at the top of her class. "No bee's knees for me. Just your regular old normal knees here."

"Don't say that! You're my genius baby sister." Yang moved in to give Ruby a side hug. "Together, we'll rock the foundations of Beacon and establish our dominance, starting a new wave of genius Huntresses," she announced waving her hand while doing so.

Next to them, a crowd of people suddenly broke into whispers, drawing the two sisters' attention. Turning to look at what everyone was focused on, they directed their attention to the news being played.

"—_The allegations made towards Headmaster Leonardo Lionheart, who was arrested earlier this morning, has just been announced to the public. A representative of the school has informed us that a follow-up press conference will be held later today in response to this—"_

"Wow. They arrested a Headmaster. What kind of heat did that guy have for that to happen?" Yang commented.

_"—If you would like to follow this ongoing case, please go to our VNN main homepage for further updates and announcements. Back to you, Lisa—_"

"—_Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest took a turn when members of the White Fang openly showed up in full uniform to participate in the protest. No violent actions were made, and the tense atmosphere of the other protesters disappeared when a renowned supporter named Tukson took charge of dealing with the White Fang. The members of the White Fang—_"

"Hey, it's Tukson! Wow, can't believe he's on the news. You think they'll mention Rin? Haven't heard much from her recently."

"Quiet," Ruby hushed her sister. "I'm trying to listen."

"Wow, Ruby Rose." Yang exaggeratingly raised one of her eyebrows. "Telling me to be quiet so you can listen to the news? Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"

Their bickering was interrupted as the screen disappeared to be replaced with a holographic image of Ms. Goodwitch.

"_—Hello, and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world—_"

The hologram disappeared and Ruby turned to look out the window.

"Oh, wow! Look, you can see Beacon from up here!" Ruby, Yang, and those around her started to look through the glass at the town below them. Even from this distance, Ruby could already make out the surrounding buildings and the tall structure close to the center of it all.

Nearby, someone started to make a funny noise, causing Ruby to turn their way. Ruby blinked for a moment, before asking in concern, "You alright?"

A blond boy was lying down on the ground in a fetal position holding his mouth. The strange noise was the sound of his stomach gurgling and the moaning from the boy himself. The guy looked extremely sick and the others around him were backing away from him. While it was a bit sad seeing the boy act like this, Ruby's eyes were naturally drawn to the sword strapped to his side.

"Hey! That's Rin's sword!" Ruby instantly recognized the weird Dust composition and intricate markings that made up Rin's sword. What the heck was it doing here? Turning to the boy, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "Why do you have Sasaki Kojirou?"

What if this guy was some kind of thief? Wait, but he stole from Rin. Ruby didn't know if anyone was strong enough to even attempt stealing from Rin. Yang probably could, but Yang would make a huge mess out of the surroundings before she could even pry Rin's fingers from her sword.

So is this guy some kind of super thief? Is he secretly some kind of badass Huntsman. Then again, looking at him moaning on the ground like this, that kind of seems unlikely. But aren't the best thieves the ones that don't look like thieves? He might be trying to lower our guard so that he can steal our weapons as well. Well, tough luck on him, cause he ain't gonna get Cresent Rose unless it's a blade to the face!

"Rin?" The boy turned to look at her for a moment before his face turned pale again and started to moan. "You know Rin?"

"Of course," Ruby answered. "She's my friend. Now, why do you have her sword?!"

"Yeah," Yang followed up from beside her. "Did you steal it from her or something?"

"What? No, of course not!" The boy shook his head in denial and stood up quickly. Staggering slightly from moving too fast, he took a second to answer. "She gave it to me. She had to borrow my sword for some upgrades she wanted to implement, so she gave me this to use instead while she had it."

That doesn't make sense. Rin wouldn't... well, okay. She might. But why would she give her personal weapon away? And not just borrow while the owner is still near them either. Ruby couldn't imagine the possibility of her giving someone Cresent Rose, even if they were just borrowing it.

"She just gave you her sword? Her personal weapon?" Yang asked dubiously. Looks like Yang was thinking the same thing too.

"Yeah, I know. I was okay with using a cheap one, but she insisted for some reason."

Okay, so he might not be some kind of thief then. But he was still someone who apparently knew Rin, even though Ruby had never heard of Rin having a guy friend before. Tukson was probably the only guy Rin often hung around, and Ruby had the inkling that Tukson wanted it that way.

"That doesn't make sense. Wait, how do you even know Rin? Who are you?"

He blinked at that. "Sorry, I guess I forgot to introduce myself." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. Holding out his hand, he introduced himself. "The name's Jaune Arc. Shor—" He stopped talking all of a sudden. "Err, never mind. Forget that last bit."

Yang took it and smiled back. "Yang Xiao Long. This here's my baby sis, Ruby. We used to go to Signal with Rin."

"Hey." Ruby gave off a wave. Finally feeling less suspicious about him, she remembered why she came over in the first place. "Are you okay?" Ruby asked. "You look like you're gonna puke."

And he did. Jaune's face was pale and he looked like he was gonna collapse any minute. With his noodly figure, weak complexion, and the kicked-puppy look he had Ruby was wondering if he was gonna be alright.

"I-I'm fine. Just... hungry. And I also have a bit of air sickness, but I'm not gonna puke since I haven't really eaten much these past few days."

"Yuck," Yang's face turned weird before she schooled it back to normal. "So... how do you know Rin anyway?"

"Oh. I met her at this club—"

"Rin? At a club?" Yang snorted. "Please, if you're gonna make it up, you got to lie better than that."

"No, really," he insisted. Talking seemed to distract him from his air sickness, Ruby noted. "I met her at this club because I was meeting someone there and I lost my Scroll earlier. Rin found me since she had my Scroll and somehow found me when she tried to return it."

"And how does that lead to Rin letting you borrow her sword?" Ruby asked.

"Well, it doesn't. Or, not directly. That was about two months ago, and I met her again later. Apparently, someone managed to hack my bank account and withdraw all my savings."

Gasp. "That's horrible! Who would do such a thing?!"

"An orange-haired mascara wearing guy who carried a cane. But anyways," Jaune ignored the weird looks he got from the two sisters. "I went to look for a job to pay for rent while I was staying in the city since at that point I was completely broke. I found a job opening at Tuckson's Bookstore—"

"Oh, so you met Rin there?" Yang interrupted.

"Well, not at first. It took me a few weeks to find out that she was apparently the owner's daughter. And I only met her about a week after I got my job since she was out of the Kingdom at the time."

_'She did say she had to go to Mistral for one weekend,'_ Ruby recalled. Ruby remembered meeting up with Rin for the first half of the summer before Rin got busy. Apparently, she had a few important projects of hers that she had to work on. So Ruby hadn't seen much of her these past few weeks.

That also kind of explained why she might not have seen Jaune before. Without seeing Rin, Ruby didn't have much reason to visit the bookstore other than looking for the occasional comic. And that only happened twice so far.

"And I guess we talk a lot. I sometimes help out in a few of her experiments. She's actually the one who awakened my Aura, so she wanted to do a few experiments on the effects of Aura awakening."

"So you're her lab rat?" Yang summarized.

"...please don't call me that. It kind of hits close to the truth."

A thought suddenly came to Ruby. "Wait! You only just met Rin, but you said she awakened your Aura. Are you saying you've only had your Aura for less than two months?"

"Ohheylookwe'rehere!" Jaune suddenly said in a panicked voice. Ruby turned to see that everyone was already walking down the ramp. Immediately forgetting about Jaune, she made her way out of the airship.

The school stood before them in all of its glory. This wasn't the first time Ruby visited, but somehow today felt different. Maybe because this time, she wasn't here as a kid taking summer classes with her friend Rin, but an actual student at Beacon.

Next to her stood Yang and Jaune, equally mesmerized by the sight before them. The three of them stood there for a while before a voice broke them out of their thoughts.

"Hello, everyone," Rin walked up to the three of them. "Wow, now that I see you all standing next to each other, I have to wonder. Are you guys related? Cause I'm seeing a lot of Taiyang in Jaune here."

"Rin!" Ruby raced forward to give the other girl a tackle hug. It said something about how frequent Ruby did this when Rin stretched her arms outward to catch the young girl. "Oh, I missed you so much Rin."

"Hey, Ruby. Sorry I've been busy for so long. I had to help a friend of mine get settled in."

"Jaune?" Ruby guessed, ending the hug.

"No, but speaking of which," she turned her head to face him. "Hey, la Pucelle. Tukson and Velvet wanted to wish you luck, so I got something from a burger joint for you to eat." She threw a paper bag at him, which he caught. "Eat up poor college student."

Jaune smiled and took a wrapped burger out of the bag. "Thanks, Rin."

"Wow, Rin. How come you didn't tell us about your friend over here. Wanted to keep your squeeze a secret?" Yang waggled her eyebrows and missed Jaune choking next to her.

"Hello, Yang. Yes, for you see, I recently found out that my chances with a certain blonde brawler wouldn't pan out with me," Rin started to put on a dramatic performance, hand over her forehead as if in despair. "So due to my heartbreak, I found a suitable replacement to throw all my feelings of love on. Poor Jaune will have to suffer from the knowledge that he is only a rebound and only second pick."

"You poor soul," Yang replied, equally dramatic. "What crazy beautiful blonde brawler would refuse you. Tell me her name and I will smite that bastard down."

"I have bleached that woman's name from her mind. I think it was something like Wang So Long."

"I will find this Wang So Long for you and wring it until I squeezed the life out of it!"

"Oh my gosh, will the two of you stop already." Ruby was mortified at what the other two were saying. "I thought you were the sane one Rin. When did Yang corrupt you too?"

"Sorry, Ruby. But I had to spend almost the past whole month with your Uncle. You learn to take a few jokes when you're around him that long."

"You were with Uncle Qrow? Why?"

"He wanted to train with a new friend of mine. She's another scythe user who's gonna work with me while I'm at Beacon, so the two sparred a lot over the summer."

"Another scythe user! Oh my gosh, where is she and can we meet," Ruby gushed.

"Right now if you want. I actually brought her here with m—" Rin turned her head to the side, but looked confused. Turning her head around for a bit, she furrowed her eyebrows. "Huh, guess she wandered off somewhere. Sorry everyone, but I got to go now. I can't leave her on her own cause she's not a student or staff member, so she's technically not allowed to walk around without a staff member."

"Yeah, sure. Oh, can we meet up later after the welcome ceremony is done?"

"Sure. I'll actually be there, so you can see me once it's over."

"Great!" Ruby leaned in to give Rin another quick hug before scorching back. "Alright then, we'll see you later!"

"Bye, Rin." "See ya," Yang and Jaune said beside her.

As Rin walked away, Yang leaned in close to Ruby to whisper in her ear. "So... do you think she has a thing for Jaune?"

}-{

Pyrrha stared at the hooded figure standing in front of her. The cloak hid most of their figure and face, but Pyrrha could still discern that it was a young girl beneath the hood.

The girl had appeared ever since Pyrrha walked into the auditorium, and had stared at Pyrrha since. Maybe it was another one of her fans, but that didn't seem right. The young girl didn't look excited or like she recognized Pyrrha. She just kept staring without making a sound. It was honestly starting to feel a bit creepy.

"H-Hello. D-Do you need s-something," she eventually asked. She was a bit nervous talking to the strange girl, which made Pyrrha feel slightly embarrassed.

"...Achilles?"

"Eh?"

"...no, wrong hair color. Not a descendant either."

Pyrrha was honestly confused at this point and was relieved when another girl suddenly appeared to talk to them.

"What did I say about going off on your own?" Pyrrha noted that the other girl seemed to be some kind of minder for the younger cloaked girl.

"She's a _Ἕλλην_." A what? What did the girl say? Hellene?

"No, she's not. There aren't any Greeks here. Sure, she kinda looks like Iskander with her red hair. But that doesn't make her Greek." The girl sighed and grabbed the younger girl's hand. "Let's just get out of here."

"Yes, Rin."

As they were about to walk away, the older girl turned to look at Pyrrha. "Sorry about that. Ozpin is gonna give a speech soon, so we'll get out of your way."

"A-Ah, no. It was no trouble."

"I'm glad you think so. It's not every day someone catches Ana's interest. But we really must leave." The girl gave a polite smile. "Good day to you now."

As the two walked away, Pyrrha couldn't help but think about the young girl and how she reacted to her. It was a bit weird how she acted, but it was still better than how her usual fans would've behaved. What was her name again? The other girl said it, she was pretty sure.

Pyrrha pondered for a moment before she remembered. _'Oh right, it was Ana.'_

}-{

Weiss Schnee straightened her back as the Headmaster continued his speech. Today was an important day that she wanted to go perfectly. So far, she managed to identify several students with a lot of potential. Especially Pyrrha Nikos. Weiss would have talked to her, but apparently she was busy with someone else at the time. It wouldn't do for Pyrrha to have a bad impression if Weiss were to interrupt their conversation.

So right now, she was listening intently to the words of her soon to be Headmaster. Or she would if the two girls standing behind her would stop whispering.

"Can the two of you just be quiet. I'm trying to listen!"

"Woah, chill there Ice Queen." What did she call me? The blonde girl who replied to her gave a small smirk. "Not like it hurts anyone if we whisper a bit."

"It hurts me, and I'm trying to listen to what the Headmaster is saying."

"Well, I guess you're too late. He just finished." What? Turning her head, Weiss realized that the blonde was right. The Headmaster had already begun walking off the stage while the woman named Ms. Goodwitch spoke.

"—rrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed!"

"Agh! Now, look what you did! You distracted me."

"Hey, how's that our fault. You literally turned around to talk to us when they finished."

"Well, I wouldn't have had to if you two weren't making such a racket."

"We didn't make a racket! We made sure we weren't loud."

"Hey!" The two of them turned to look at the small girl who stood with them. "Er, oh wow. You actually stopped to listen."

The two stared at the young girl as her face began to flush."A-Anyways, how about y-you two stop fighting. It's our first day and all, so how about we just get along." She cleared her throat and held out her hand. "Hello, Miss. I'm Ruby Rose."

Hm, she seems to be more mature between the two of them. And she did exhibit some skill in leadership from the way she managed to control the flow of conversation. Though she does look a little young though.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, at your service."

"_oh wow, don't let Rin come near this girl,_" she heard the blonde mumble under her breath.

Weiss felt one of her eyes twitch, but she calmed herself down before she spoke. Don't let your annoyance with the blonde bimbo get to you, Weiss. Focus on recruiting the young but so far competent girl in front of you. Maybe you'll get lucky and get partnered with this girl if the Nikos plan doesn't work. Having this Ruby Rose as a partner seems like it would benefit Weiss a lot.

Somewhere out in the void, a certain vampire started to laugh hysterically.

}-{

Blake tugged at the collar of her yukata, allowing the heat to escape. The room where everyone was sleeping was slightly warm, which was probably why a few of the boys were out and about topless.

Hey, she's a free girl now. She's allowed to admire the view.

But then again, she still needed to finish her new Harry Potter book. It has been a while since she bought it, and until now she's put off reading it due to another book she's found. Ninja's of Love seemed more interesting at the time, even if the ending was a bit anti-climatic.

Speaking of which, Blake remembered seeing the girl from the bookstore standing on stage next to the Headmistress. So she really was her assistant. Honestly, Blake barely remembered the welcome ceremony. Other than thinking that Ozpin was an almost exact copy of Dumbledore and Professor Goodwitch another copy of Minerva McGonagall. Huh, did Rin base her characters off them?

And speaking of Rin, Blake managed to find out more about the young girl after their first meeting at the bookstore. Apparently, she's the adopted daughter of one of their former recruiters Tukson. To think that the man she used to talk to as a child would actually leave the White Fang to own a bookstore.

Then again, he might not be as removed from the White Fang anymore. With the recent protests in town, the White Fang is attempting to legitimizing themselves by sending their members over to participate. Somehow, they weren't being arrested by the police and guarding Huntsman, so they must have made some sort of deal after Blake had left.

Blake was... conflicted about that. Literally right after she left, the White Fang started to all of a sudden become downright peaceful. Participating in protests, stopping all attacks (or at least any public attack, according to the news), and this seemed extremely strange to Blake.

Her reasons for leaving were actually moot at this point since the White Fang wasn't attacking civilians anymore. But for some reason, Blake felt uneasy. She knew Adam to an intimate level, so she knows for a fact that Adam wouldn't change his modus operandi out of anywhere. Something big must have happened. Either a change in leadership or new orders from higher up.

Blake needed to find out what was going on. She may have left the White Fang, but that doesn't mean she's out of the fight.

A yawn escaped her mouth uncontrollably. Okay, so maybe she can fight tomorrow. Tonight, let's just rest for the imitation in the morning.

* * *

**So, this Author's Note is gonna be a bit longer than usual. I just finished my finals (frickin math and physics) and now I'm officially done with school. Woohoo, summer break!**

**Recently I just concluded my other fic Deadman Remnant as well and now I find myself having more time on my hands due to school ending. Depending on how things go, I might switch from a bi-weekly schedule to a weekly schedule. Crossed fingers, everyone.**

**I know I intentionally made it vague about who E-Rin summoned in the last chapter, so I'll say a few things first. Rin can only summon Knight-class Servants, and this is already mentioned in one of the previous chapters. I added this weird restriction because I only want a maximum of three Servants in the story. Seven is too much, and most of the popular Servants are in the Knight-classes anyways, so that's why I have that weird restriction.**

**This means that E-Rin did not summon Jack the Ripper, or any other Assassin-class Servant, and will not summon such Servants in the future. Sorry for those who didn't get the memo. Besides, I never watched Apocrypha so I don't really have a feel for Jack's personality. I'll admit - since for some reason most of the competent fighters in RWBY are female - Jack would've been a powerhouse.**

**So some of you have probably figured it out by this point, but yeah. E-Rin has summoned the (SPOILER from this point on) Lancer Class Servant, Medusa Lily. Otherwise known as Ana, she's a child incarnation of the Greek myth Medusa before she became a monster.**

**E-Rin will summon another Servant later in a couple of months. E-Rin can still summon a Saber or an Archer. I have an idea of who I want for each Class already, but I can't decide which one to summon first. Magic Resistance or Independent Action can both change the story narrative depending on how they're used. Saber team up with E-Rin vs enemy Maiden or Archer working alongside Qrow while E-Rin stays in school.**

**Also, and take this with a grain of salt, I don't plan on adding any more Fate characters other than Rin, Zelretch, and any summoned Servants. Maybe some Easter eggs or name drops, but not full character interactions.**

**Anyways, that should be all for now. The next chapter will be the initiation.**


	12. Initiation

**A.N. (7/12/20) - I've been really lazy these past few days. Just started this chapter on a Thursday and only finished a few hours before posting.**

* * *

Chapter 12 - Initiation

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Rin eyed the tiny cup nestling in her hands with a hint of suspicion. It was early in the morning and she had suffered through the multitude of alarm clocks in order to get to the staff room.

"I'm not one to drink coffee."

"Nonsense! No matter what Glynda says, everyone can enjoy a good morning cup."

Rin looked up to see the bemused smile of Ozpin as the man took another sip out of his own mug. Rin was currently alone with Ozpin in the staff room waiting for the rest of the teachers to come by. Ozpin had already had a pot of coffee brewing by the time Rin came and had taken to making her a cup without asking.

"I'm really more of a tea person."

"Maybe so, but sadly we've run out of teabags at the moment."

"Really? I'm pretty sure I saw a box full of them when you opened the cupboard earlier."

"You must be mistaken," Ozpin lied smoothly. "I definitely didn't see any when I last checked. It must have been something else you saw."

Rin eyed the bubbling concoction in her hands with growing sense trepidation. A strange smell filled the air that gave off a sort of... spicy aroma. The liquid didn't seem to have the normal color she expected either. Rather, for some strange reason, it was a blackish almost purple color. A sinister pop shook her out of her thoughts.

"W-Why is it still boiling? Shouldn't it have cooled down by now?"

"That's one of Bart's special concoctions," Ozpin explained. "It's a specialized blend of finely grounded Fire Dust and imported Vacuo Shores. Perfect for warming you up in the morning while clearing your mind and keeping you awake."

A shiver went down Rin's back. Rin remembered the first time Tukson introduced her to the fine art that is Dust coffee. Due to certain actions of her youth, she had a mild trauma that made it hard for her to have a good opinion of the popular beverage. Still, if Ozpin was willing to take the effort to offer her a cup even though she was young in years, then the beverage was probably gonna be something special.

Ozpin gestured her with his hand as if telling her to go on.

Seeing that she had no other choice, Rin sighed and took a sip.

"..."

It tasted... horrible! Extremely bitter to an unnatural degree and almost burning her tongue. If Rin was tired before, now she was alert and felt like she just injected herself with pure adrenaline. Rin almost spat the foul liquid out of her mouth until something strange started to happen. The taste... started to change. A strange prickly sensation started to cover her tongue, and the flavor started to mellow out into a bearable state that Rin found herself enjoying.

Sensing her pleasure, Ozpin patted her on the shoulder and gave her a wink. "Always a pleasure converting another one to the cause."

T-This... this was something alright. Rin couldn't see herself going back to drinking tea after today. Rin took another sip and was happily surprised by the fact that her tongue adapted to the initial bitter taste, allowing her to enjoy the flavor without repercussion. A warm feeling soon started to spread through the rest of her body, and her body relaxed under its warmth.

"Glynda never saw the appeal, unfortunately. I dare say she blushed a storm cleaning up the spill she made after spitting it out when she first took a sip. And ever since she never touched another cup."

"Y-Yeah~" Oh wow, she already finished her cup. Why didn't she grab a large mug like Ozpin?

Rin held out her hand as Ozpin helped refill her cup. Allowing her time to take a sip, Ozpin waited until it looked like she was done.

"So what are your thoughts on the upcoming trial today?"

Rin shrugged. "I already told you how it would've gone if I never appeared. Did you change how you're assigning teams this year?"

"Not particularly. And by that, I mean not at all. I might mix up the order of who's getting launched, but otherwise, it should be as you remember it."

"Rememb— is that the right tense? Sorry, it's just that it's supposed to be a future event and all."

"I thought you believed otherwise. Isn't this part of your theory on parallel-timelines, thus making your version a record and not an actual event you can classify as happened in the future?"

Rin tried to think about it, but the fugue-like state she was feeling from the coffee made her lazy. Strange, even though she was caffeinated to the extreme, she was starting to feel sleepy again. "M-Moving on. I'd thought you would've changed it since I'd know how you would do things this year."

"I trust that your integrity wouldn't allow you to divulge to your friends Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long merely to gain an upper hand over the competition." Ozpin took another sip out of his own mug. "Did I assume incorrectly?"

Rin looked to the side awkwardly. "K-Kinda. Honestly... I did think about it for a while, telling them I mean, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking."

"Oh?"

Rin took a moment to think about her next words. This next part of the conversation was probably gonna delve into a few of her insecurities she's been noticing recently.

"You know that... ever since we've had that meeting you've been taking the idea of my knowledge of a possible timeline rather easily. I'm still surprised you were willing to accept my story so easily."

"We did spend a while going over the details you've recalled."

"Yeah. And I recall you asking why I came to you in the first place. And I answered that if my knowledge could help others and prevent problems from forming in the first place, then it is my duty to others to make sure that such problems were handled before they grew out of hand."

"Yes, and we have managed to change things too." Ozpin's expression grew dark for a moment. "While Lionheart's betrayal hurt me personally, I believe James is grateful for you trusting him to take care of that particular problem."

"Yeah. Ironwood's been a great help." Rin had met the man over video conference a few times, and she got the impression that the man was someone she could respect.

"Did you know he once made an offer to help shelter Amber in Atlas?" Seeing the confused expression on Rin's face was answer enough. "At the time I refuse, of course. Two Maidens in close proximity together under a somewhat militaristic society? That was something even Qrow in his most drunken state would have agreed that it was a bad idea." Taking another sip, he continued. "Sure, I understood his reasons why he thought it was a good idea. Having the Fall Maiden so far away from her protected Vault would be an additional factor in security, and the two Maidens could have protected each other from harm if needed. Even so, there were more reasons not to do so than there were to go through with the idea."

Setting the mug down on the table, Ozpin sighed and crossed his fingers together. "But... with your claims on her possible attack, I'm starting to question if maybe it would be better to move her for now. Since we can't send her to Haven Academy for obvious reasons and the fact that we don't have anyone trusted in Vacuo, Atlas is honestly the only place we can send her that I trust to keep her safe."

"Have you heard about Cinder or her followers?"

"No. We looked into the student registry for all four Huntsman Academies. They're not in either of them, and we've gone over the past few years just in case. I also had Qrow try to search for Marcus Black to see if his son had been recruited or not, but no one's been able to tell him where the two lived."

That's... a good thing, right? It's not like Rin was worried about Ozpin losing faith in Rin's supposed prediction of the future. There were other events that she could use to prove the legitimacy of her foreknowledge, the biggest being Lionheart's betrayal. That said... did her butterfly effect cause more harm than good?

"But even so, with all that you have told us, we are now more prepared for any attempt that Salem will throw at us." Ozpin looked Rin in the eyes and smiled. "So yes, I must give thanks to your decision about opening up to us. You have contributed a great deal in our efforts against Salem. Are you having doubts about thinking that you should have chosen otherwise?"

"No. You were the only one capable of mobilizing the necessary resources to handle the problems I foresaw, and I took advantage of my foreknowledge to learn how to convince you to help handle it." Rin's thoughts on this were absolute. If things had gone as the show had depicted, Cinder would currently have half the power of the Fall Maiden. Now, due to Rin's efforts, Amber will not end up in a coma fated to slowly die until her Aura is transferred to another candidate.

"Then what is the problem?" Ozpin asked with some curiosity.

"Well... it's stupid." Rin shuffled in her seat. "I know things and I made sure to act on what I know. And yes, this means that sometimes the people I know are unfortunately someone I knew before having met them. But then I look at some people I know. And I see... not them, but the people they could be. And not just that, but I see what they could have been."

Rin felt something tug at her chest as she spilled her thoughts. "Look at Ruby. Graduating two years early the same year as her sister. Compared to when I first met her, she's more confident in her skills and decisions. And I feel horrible that I want Ruby to be more like the Ruby I know, the one who's destined to lead a group called Team RWBY and make friends with another group called Team JNPR. But I know how Team RWBY came to be and knowing that this Ruby is different is hard, because I have no guarantee that it will be the same Team RWBY I remember and I can't help but feel is it wrong for me to wish for them to team up anyways."

Team Ruby and Team Juniper. Rin knew these girls and boys. She, or rather Erik, had watched them grow up into great Huntsman and Huntresses. But those people were built by loss and tragedy. To make these children - and yes, Rin saw them as children - take a path so similar to what Rin knew. Is that her right?

Yang was supposed to be partners with Blake. She was supposed to fight against the White Fang and Cinder's minions. She was supposed to be framed for an unprovoked attack on Mercury at the Vytal Tournament. She was supposed to lose her arm against Adam Tauros. She was supposed to meet her mother and come to terms with their relationship. She was supposed to fall in love with Blake.

But should she? How much of that will happen if Yang doesn't find herself in the same circumstances as it could have been? Can she still fall in love if Yang finds herself partnered with Pyrrha? Or Jaune? Or her sister Ruby?

And Ruby. Ruby is even more different from how Rin remembered due to so many changes Rin made. Will Ruby even be made leader of her team, whoever they might be?

Several weeks ago, Rin took a look at herself in the mirror one day and flinched. Because she couldn't see that the girl in front of her was her reflection. For at that moment, she saw the eyes of someone who looked at others and only saw them as parts of an idea she wanted to create. During the next few days, Rin couldn't look into a mirror without flinching and forgetting that this was who she was now.

"And then I had these thoughts that maybe I could tell Ruby and Yang how they would choose partners, but then I can't explain how I know without lying to them or slipping at who they might end up with and it just makes me think about what kind of person I am to worry about such things."

This was the problem with her. No matter how much she adapted to this life, ultimately she realizes that she's a manipulator of circumstances who takes advantage of her unique knowledge to get involved with key characters she knew about. To this day, Rin still wonders whether she befriended Ruby for natural reasons or whether it was due to her status as the main protagonist.

Ozpin was silent for a moment, with the only sounds in the room coming from him tapping the side of his mug. A moment later, he slowly replied with a quiet voice, "I think I can easily relate."

"..." He could. For even though Rin is special for having her soul merged with another person, Ozpin is not only the same but is also the accumulation of an unknown amount of people all fused together into one person. As far as Rin knew, no one else on Remnant except for Ozpin can come close to understanding what she is going through.

"I understand the feeling of being manipulative. I've had this conversation several times throughout my lives with myself. And in my case, quite literally. Many of my hosts have come to me with this exact topic with differing measures of worry. The feeling of knowing the truth behind the Grimm and understanding that by not telling others about the threat we have to lie and work around others if we want to keep it a secret. The pain we undergo in having to lie to our friends and family, no matter what we feel about telling them."

Ozpin gave a tired chuckle, letting his true age leak out for a moment. "During my first few reincarnations, I found myself often comparing my new companions with those I've previously had, forcing certain ideals on new comrades based on experiences of previous lives. The transition from one life to the next is not always so clean-cut as I make it out to be, and sometimes past regrets just... transfer on to the next. And with regrets, comes expectations. While your worries are slightly more unique than mine, ultimately I believe I can empathize with you. It... is a heavy burden for those cursed with circumstances such as us."

And this isn't a problem that just affects them alone. In Volume 6 where it is revealed that Ozpin has been lying to them for various reasons, Ozpin's secrets being revealed affected the trust he built with his students and Qrow. This caused a strain in their relationship, forcing a divide between him and the rest of his companions. Qrow took his betrayal the worst, having listened to Ozpin almost his whole life, making it even worse when Qrow rejected Ozpin for his lies.

Rin hasn't told Ozpin this particular knowledge yet. So far, she's gone over the first three volumes in great detail with Ozpin and his group while rationalizing that any further into the timeline wouldn't matter too much if large changes were gonna be made. In fact, Ozpin himself asked that while he would hear out Rin's explanation on large important events he would rather he didn't know about his personal future in this alternate timeline. Rin hasn't even told him who would eventually replace him in the case of his death.

So yes, the two of them had issues with honesty that probably necessitated some therapy for both of them. And it's not like they can just talk their problems out with a psychologist. A psychologist needs honesty, and Rin and Ozpin had too much to hide to risk revealing to someone uninvolved.

_'Gosh, is this why all Huntsman and Huntresses all end up crazy?'_ Rin looked at Qrow, Taiyang, and Raven for examples of that particular thought. The three that were mostly involved in Ozpin's war were probably the craziest Huntsman and Huntresses around. While Taiyang might be the most normal out of the three, even he had his own problems. Rin heard stories from Yang about how he used to be absent-minded for years after Summer's death. Almost to the point where Yang had to describe him as neglectful, forcing Yang to sometimes act as the adult for Ruby.

"...does it ever get better."

Ozpin closed his eyes and leaned back onto his chair. "Some days, I feel like I can answer yes. Most days, I try to remember the reasons I act that way and hold on to those reasons. Because... if I forget why I'm destroying myself, then all of my efforts will end up meaningless."

"Still doesn't exactly solve my problem. Initiation is only a few hours away, and I can't decide if it's better for Teams Ruby and Juniper to form or not."

"Try not to worry. Why don't you just trust that things will work out? Try... believing in fate for once."

Rin snorted at the unintentional pun. Fate, huh? That was basically the story of her life. Literally, in some cases.

"You know what, maybe you're on to something. Thanks... Dumbledore."

The serious mood disappeared and Ozpin smiled. "One of these days, I'll have to read those books you're always referencing."

Glynda Goodwitched walked in to see the two of them smiling at each other, two cups of cold coffee resting in between them.

"Bart and Peter have already moved out to control the number of Grimm in the forest. I'll be out resetting the launch pads for the upcoming Initiation. Miss Tohsaka, can you please go and wake up the students so that they can prepare for the day?"

Rin took a look at her cup, shrugged, then downed the entirety in one quick gulp. Setting it down, she got up from her seat and stretched.

"Welp, I guess everyone's been waiting. I'll go get things started then."

}-{

Jaune stared at the flying Grimm that just passed over him. Sure, it was a tiny thing. But to date, Jaune has yet to have slain even a 'tiny' Grimm, or any Grimm for that matter.

Last night was a real stress tester. Jaune had been unable to sleep easily, causing him to have trouble waking up earlier this morning. Then there was that moment where he forgot where he left the sword Rin lent him, and then there was that fight that broke out between Yang and that white-haired girl. Ruby had mostly stayed out of it and instead helped him out with searching for Sasaki Kojiro instead.

And then it all came back to now, where he's currently trying to NOT freak out before the test can even start.

Yeah, it's just a test. Just think of it like a school test. Sure, regular school tests don't make you go into strange forests to fight off eldritch abominations. No, they only test you on things like math and history. The true horrors of humanity.

"With that in mind," shoot! How long have they been talking? "The first person you make in eye contact with will be your partner."

"WHAT!" This came out of his mouth with a shock. No one else seemed surprised by this. Even Ruby seemed to be taking this in stride, and from what he learned about her earlier, she was supposedly two years younger than him. Man, was everyone some kind of badass warrior, him being the exception?

From one end, students suddenly started being launched into the air one-by-one. Okay, this is actually happening now. You can do this. Just remember all the training you did with Rin.

_'Jaune, you idiot! I told you to move right! I can't keep healing you if you're too dead to learn to dodge.'_

Remember your training with Rin.

_'Hey Jaune, I've been working on a little experiment with a few Dust crystals. Try to not get hit while I test them out on you.'_

Rember your training...

_'Dodge! Oh my gosh, you're worse than abridged Gohan! It's not that hard!'_

Remember...

...wait a minute. Rin never taught him how to do a landing strategy! Shit! Okay, you can figure something out. Just... ask the Professor. Surely they won't just throw you off if you don't know how to handle this, right?

"Um... Professor Ozpin?"

"Yes?" As he said that, the student to his very left just got launched off into the air. Jaune gulped nervously before continuing.

"So... I might have missed a bit during your explanation but... what's exactly a... landing strategy?"

Jaune trailed off as Ozpin gave him a weird stare, before raising his mug and taking a loud sip.

"...I'm sure a bright fellow like you can figure it out."

...wait, what?

}-{

Blake heard a loud pitched squeal from behind her as she traveled through the air. Huh, wondered who that was. Either way, she was about to land so she better get ready.

Taking out Gambol Shroud, Blake threw the hook end towards a wide trunk and swung around for a bit before landing safely. From above her, she could see several other students fly by.

Okay, let's go over what she should do next. First, look for a partner that she can handle dealing with for the next four years. First off, no racist bigots. So that Cardin guy she heard talking last night is probably out. Speaking of last night, there were a couple of loud and active students she noticed as well. Blake imagined partnering with the loud orange-haired girl or that Yang person who kept arguing with the Schnee. Somehow, Blake felt that she wouldn't get much peace if she partnered up with them.

So who does that leave her with? There was Pyrrha Nikos. Weird how no one seemed to talk to her except for the Schnee. And that right there is a reason she might have to avoid the red-haired girl from now on. If they knew each other from before school...

Blake jumped from tree to tree while searching for a partner.

Maybe she can partner with that silent black-haired boy. No, no boys. Adam is still a recent wound and not something she wants to poke at. Sure, it's not like it's a guarantee that partnering with a male will lead to a romance option, but there were a lot of precedents that made Blake wary. And by that logic, the blonde nervous guy was out also.

Stopping at a session of bushes, she pulled out her sword and started to hack away at the foliage.

Who else? There was Yang's sister, Ruby. Sure, she looks a little young. But so far it seems that she's apparently the more mature one between the two sisters. Blake can imagine working with the girl for the next few years. Honestly, at this point, Blake felt that she could work with anyone. Well, anyone except...

Blake suddenly found herself at the end of a pointed weapon. The tip pointing in her face had appeared right while she finished cutting through the bushes.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't notice anyone was there. Sorry about that." Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Corporation, lowered her weapon to her side. "I guess this makes us partners. As my new partner, I am expecting you to be aware that you will have to live up to a certain standard now that you are going to be working with me." Holding out her hand, Weiss Schee looked straight at Blake.

At this point, Blake felt herself questioning how life will be life for the next few weeks, no, days if she partnered with the Schnee. No, this simply will not work.

"What color are my eyes?" Blake suddenly asked.

"Eh?" The white-haired girl was suddenly caught off guard. "Er... sorry, what?"

Blake quickly turned around and started to run. Nope, Weiss Schnee did not know what color eyes she had. Ergo, their eyes did not meet, and thus they weren't partners.

Simple logic, really.

"Hey! Get back here! Stop running away and get back here!"

Sim~ple logic.

"GET BACK HERE!"

Blake smiled and continued to run away while a frustrated Schnee continued to chase her. Huh, guess some things in life don't change after all.

* * *

**Damn, it took a while to write this. I've been putting off doing anything these past few days since I've been going through a weird lazy mood where I just didn't want to do anything. Seriously, I've been waking up around 12 pm and sleeping around 10 pm while doing nothing but stare at the ceiling for most of the time in between. Either that or reading fanfic on my phone in my hand while lying in bed.**

**Now that I have more time to write I'm gonna switch to a weekly schedule soon. Not next week though, since I'll be busy that week. I'll probably spend that time going over past chapters and fixing a few grammar mistakes I missed the first time.**

**(NOTE: This chapter hasn't been checked for grammatical mistakes. I'll remove this part once I check all chapters up to this point.)**

**So yeah, let's talk about what's happened in this chapter so far. I had that talk with Rin and Ozpin, which I felt is a big thing that usually isn't addressed in self-inserts. With all that foreknowledge, how morally righteous does it make our main character if all of their interactions are tainted with hidden intentions and general manipulation. Let's not forget that sometimes, these self-inserts are also older than what they portray themselves as, which adds another factor of deception and wrongness to an already unnatural situation. This is why I wanted E-Rin to talk to Ozpin because he's the closest person to understand such feelings that no one else can ever relate to.**

**I know I didn't really get into too much into the actual initiation event. I got too into writing the Rin/Ozpin scene. The next few chapters will go over the imitation for a while. I'll just say it now and I don't plan on changing the teams too drastically. Make out the meaning of that as you see fit.**


	13. Temple

**A.N. (7/27/20) - Real sorry for the late update being a whole day late. My internet crashed and I lost most of the chapter (around 40%). This only happened once a few months ago, so I wasn't prepared for the unexpectedness.**

* * *

Chapter 13 - Temple

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

"Wow, that boy sure has a set of lungs."

Rin slapped herself in the forehead as the other Professors commented on Jaune's less than stellar reaction to being launched into the air. She didn't spend the last few weeks training Jaune and having someone awaken his Aura only for him to fail at the start of the test. He should know better since Rin made sure to show him...

Rin paused for a moment. Did she show him how to do a proper landing strategy?

_"Hey, Ana. Did we ever train Jaune how to do a proper landing strategy?"_

Through their Servant bond, Lancer let out a sigh next to her while hidden in her Astral Form. _"No. Scheduled last week, but skipped due to plans with Qrow."_

...shit.

Well, Jaune has a lot of Aura so he's probably fine.

"Did anyone actually make sure that everyone had Aura?" Rin asked out loud.

"Oh, please. Beacon isn't incompetent enough to just let any random person try their luck. I don't think there's ever a possibility that someone without Aura could sneak their way into taking the test," Ooble— _Bart_ replied in response.

A quick look towards Ozpin's direction showed that the man was calmly standing still without a change in expression. Rin did tell him what happened in the alternate continuity, so she's pretty sure he's secretly sweating behind his back. But seriously, even if Jaune faked his transcripts to fool the Professors the first time, how did no one notice his lack of Aura?

"Beacon takes great care to carefully screen all applicants," Ozpin said, continuing the conversation. "We make a great effort into verifying our potential students' academic records to test their Huntsman and Huntress training."

That sounded like the most blatant lie Rin ever heard Ozpin say thus far.

"Obviously, a prerequisite to mastering the higher-level skills of being a Huntsman requires one to unlock their Aura. Thus, it is _implied_ that all Beacon applicants have unlocked their Aura beforehand. It's not like we can predict for the worst-case scenarios of, say, someone faking their transcripts and enrolling Beacon without even the most basics of knowledge or knowing what Aura is. For such a person to exist and apply is all but impossible to predict."

"That's... a pretty specific example there Ozpin," Por— _Peter_ commented.

"It has been brought up before in a conversation."

"Hm?" Glynda looked at the holographic screen projecting the activities of the students in the forest. "Looks like we have our first pair. Cardin Winchester and Russel Thrush."

"They seem to be getting along just fine."

Rin took a moment to search through her memories. Was it ever mentioned who partnered with who in Team CRDL?

"Ah, and it looks like Jaune crashed through several trees, but it looks like he's fine for now."

The holographic screen switched to show Jaune lying with his arms entangled with a few branches sporting a dazed expression on his face.

"The closest person near him would be... Pyrrha Nikos."

A tap on the tablet in Glynda's hands made the screen shift to show an image of Pyrrha cutting her way through some bushes with her weapon. Rin pondered for a moment why she didn't help Jaune this time. Maybe she sensed that Jaune could handle this level of damage since he has Aura now. But then again, it's not like she knew he had Aura last time either.

Ugh, it's weird saying 'last time' even though it's more accurate to say 'in another timeline' instead. That's the problem with learning the future and remembering that future from a past perspective.

So, there's a chance that even though things are different from the... original continuity? Alternate continuity? Different from the show. Even though things are different from how the show depicted it, there's still a chance that Jaune and Pyrrha can parter up as partners.

"And it looks like we have another partner... up. What is Miss Belladonna doing?"

A confused tone from Glynda made Rin look up and stare at a strange scene. Blake was running away from Weiss while covering her ears and chanting something while Weiss was screaming at the top of her lungs while chasing her.

Well, it looks like some butterflies are flapping their way in now.

"I-It looks like there might be a disagreement with their partnership."

"Thank you, Port. That wasn't immediately obvious to me," Glynda bit back sarcastically. "We've told them the rules already. Why did they think we couldn't enforce those rules, I can't say. What should we do about this?"

"We can just pretend we didn't see this. If their partnership is deteriorating at such an early start, maybe it's better if they find someone else to stay with for the next few years."

"But Bart, the whole point of the partners and team program is to make people learn to work together even with those who you can't stand. It's preparation for the field when you find yourself working together and trusting your lives to complete strangers."

"That's fine. It looks like they might still be together at this rate anyway."

Glynda turned to stare at Ozpin. "What do you mean?"

Ozpin gestured to the screen, and everyone saw the moment the two girls crashed into another group of girls and all fall into a pile of limbs and bodies.

"Well, it looks like we might have our first team," Ozpin said as Rin finally noticed that the two other girls were Ruby and Yang. The camera following them wasn't powerful enough to pick up sound, but judging from the way the four girls were animatedly acting, it looked like they were arguing with each other over something.

Eventually, Ruby pushed Yang towards Weiss and wrapped her arms around Blake. Yang and Weiss immediately started to argue to the side.

"So Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna will be partners and Weiss Schnee and Yang Xiao Long will also partner up. And if things go perfectly, they'll pick the same pieces if the sisters have anything to say and everyone will be on the same team. Thus, Miss Schnee and Miss Belladonna will eventually have to learn to work together and all will be well," Ozpin concluded.

D-Did he somehow orchestrates this whole scenario? Did he mess with the landing pads so that the four of them would land near each other? Cause there's no way this is just a coincidence.

So Ruby and Blake are together this time. That might actually work since if Blake's gonna pull the rest of her team into her plans against the White Fang, Ruby will be pretty supportive of Blake and her goals. Now, Weiss and Yang on the other hand... yikes.

The Professors all started to comment on the other students partnering up. Rin didn't really know any of them and just waited around. Next to her, Ana stood to attention while staring at the screen watching the exploits of other students to pass the time.

_"At least everyone else is following the first eye contact rule."_

_"...indeed."_

Ugh, it's kinda hard to talk to Ana. The Lancer-Class Servant was not someone Erik knew all that well before his death. All he knew was that Ana is a younger version of Medusa and that she played a role in the recent Babylonia anime. So Rin didn't really know how to interact with Ana all that well.

So far, all she knows is that Ana is kind of an introvert and loves eating desserts that aren't overly sweet. And that she kind of likes sparring with Qrow.

Oh, it looks like Jaune's finally found a partner for himself. He's together with... Nora? The heck. What happened to Pyrrha? Wasn't she the closest to him?

Oh, it looks like she's partnered up with Ren. Wow, not just Team RWBY but even Team JNPR somehow got together, albeit with different partners. And looking at another part of the screen, Rin noted that Sky Lark and Dove Bronzewing also partnered up. So the whole ensemble of Team CDNL also got together. What are the odds?

No, teams aren't finalized until they pick the chess pieces. So there's still a chance things might go differently. Still, if Rin were willing to bet...

And now everyone's on their way to the Temple. The girls of the to-be-determined-to-form Team RWBY were all traveling together in a group. Nora and Jaune were riding Ursas with Jaune screaming his lungs off. And Pyrrha and Ren were running towards them, most likely alarmed by the sounds of Jaune's high pitched screams.

Cardin and Russel seemed to have already chosen their pieces... and it looks like the rest of the Cardinal team picked the paired chess piece. So, that's one team down.

Huh? Looks like something's happening.

"Ozpin, didn't you say you took care of that Death Stalker I told you about?"

"I'm pretty sure I sent Port to take care of that."

"I most certainly took care of one Death Stalker. I'm not sure where this one came from, or why this one is so big."

"You did make sure to take care of the one trapped in a cave with a mural at the entrance, right?"

"...ah."

Welp, that answers that. And wow, looks like a giant Nevermore showed up as well. Rin didn't see who got what chess piece, but the eight students Rin knew were all running away from the temple and combing through the woods now. The group finally stopped running when they reached an open flat area, and everyone turned to deploy their weapons.

This should be interesting.

}-{

This really isn't the best of days.

"Jaune! Help out to the left."

"Jaune, stop tanking the hits. You're Aura won't last at this rate."

"Blondie! Is your armor supposed to be making those noises?"

"Jaune, why won't you _dodge_."

This _really_ isn't the best of days. And really Ruby, it's not like he's taking the hits on purpose. It's that he can't find a way to move out of the giant murder scorpion's attack range.

With the earlier crash from his not-so-successful landing and that crazy ride on those Ursas with his probably-clinically-insane partner, Jaune was not as full of Aura as he was comfortable with.

Also, the heck Rin! Why didn't you tell me that Huntsman were expected to know how to land properly?

Jaune heard a gunshot come from behind him and an approaching claw suddenly jerked to the left, barely smashing into the ground next to him. Seriously, why didn't he have a cool gun like literally everyone else? Even Weiss has that weird revolver thing with the Dust attacks she's been throwing out.

Also, Jaune made a note to look into Dust spells later on. He saw some really cool applications from when Rin taught him for a while, and Weiss helped him reignite that spark of curiosity.

"Ruby has a plan to take out the Nevermore," Yang cried from a distance away from Jaune. "Can you guys take care of the Death Stalker by yourselves?"

'You guys' referred to Jaune, Nora, some red-haired girl, and a guy that Jaune guessed was Lie Ren - wow, Nora wasn't kidding. He really does remind Jaune of a sloth - judging by the way Nora was acting around him.

Wait, what did Yang just say?

"We can take care of it. Go and help your sister," the red-haired girl replied to Yang. Grinning and throwing a thumbs up, Yang turned around and launched herself in the air with her gauntlet-slash-guns.

"Are you guys kidding!" Jaune exclaimed as his... probably teammate chased off their heaviest close combat fighters to fight a _flying _enemy. Seriously, did no one else see the problem with that?

"Oh, Jaune! Don't worry, we'll be fine," his partner said while smashing her hammer into the giant Grimm.

Then again, we do have a Nora.

"Ugh, isn't there a convenient cliff we can just throw this guy down," Jaune cried out. Right as he said that, Ren came flying past him just as he got hit by a particularly heavy blow from the giant Grimm.

"His armor is too strong. I'm only hurting the eyes or exposed parts!" the red-haired girl cried out, holding the Grimm back by herself. He should really find out her name later.

"I can probably smash him harder, but I don't think I can smash him hard enough to death," Nora said while picking up Ren and helping him stand.

Okay, so the red-haired girl is busy holding the line and Ren looks like he's about to collapse. Nora is busy trying to shoot the damn thing down with... grenades? What did he have?

A missing shield that would've been really appreciated a few minutes ago.

Dent armor that looks like it might need to be replaced. Well, sorry that he had to miss out on maintenance since he's apparently broke. And it's not like that training with Rin didn't soften the thing either.

A borrowed sword to replace the one he had.

Wait, didn't Rin say that he can use a secret sword technique if he ever needed it? Something about how it's used in swallowing rehearsals. Is this supposed to be used in a circus act?

No, wait! She said _Swallow Reversal_, which Jaune finally remembered was the name of the sword technique Rin told him about.

"Guys, I have a plan. Nora, can you and that other girl hold him in place for a minute."

"You got it, leader!" Nora ran off with a salute and a maniacal grin on her face.

"I'm not th... never mind." Jaune held the sword _Sasaki Kojirou_ in his hand and started to concentrate. According to Rin, she made it so that if one poured a crazy amount of Aura into the sword and spoke a certain chant, the sword will transform temporarily into a weapon capable of creating a powerful slash. Listening to her explain it the first time, Jaune was reminded of those Mistrillian manga main characters learning how to use their main weapons for the first time.

From what Rin told him, the short sword is only the sealed state. Its true power can only be released when the sword transforms into the Monohoshizao, a sort-of second form where it can unleash the true might of the sword.

Wow, it really does sound like a chunni wet-dream.

"Jaune! If you're ready to do whatever you're planning, do it now!" Nora cried out. Jaune immediately turned to the Grimm and started to pour his Aura into the sword.

Jaune felt the drain almost immediately as the weird force field surrounding his body flickered for a moment.

_"**Hiken—**"_

A sudden burst of wind and light, and the sword transformed in his hands. Before, it was a short blade that would've counted as a sword to someone like Rin, but looked more like a dagger in Jaune's hands. Now, it transformed into a longsword around five feet long and was glowing with a strange purple tint to it.

Hope this works.

_"**Tsubame Gaeshi**!"_

His body suddenly moved by itself, and Jaune felt a migraine form in his head as his Aura almost completely emptied out. For a moment, there was only silence before a strange sound rang through the air.

**VvVVvRrRRRrZZzZtTTT**

With the sound of space itself being cut, Jaune felt his body suddenly split into three beings attacking from three different directions all at once. The contradiction almost made him hurl, even as his body uncontrollably moved against his will to slash at three different points on the Grimm.

The Grimm screamed, and Jaune finally found control over his body again. Taking a deep breath, he rolled to the side and moved out of the way as the Grimm started to thrash around.

Jaune looked to the weapon in his hand and winced. The sword was breaking apart into glass-like fragments. Oh gosh, Rin is not gonna be happy.

"Jaune! Holy cow, look what you did," Nora cried out in excitement.

Taking a look, Jaune was taken aback at the damage the weapon managed to cause (and yes, Jaune wasn't vain enough to claim that it was his efforts that caused this level of damage). Somehow, Jaune managed to slice off both arms and the base of the tail at the same exact time. Its legs were also damaged as well from being crushed by its arms when it flailed about. The Grimm was just basically a wriggling torso at this point.

The red-haired girl took the chance to stab at an exposed part of the Grimm's underbelly, finally killing it and allowing it to dissipate into dark particles.

"Damn, Pyrrha. Kill-stealing from my glorious partner. Have you no shame," Nora teased.

"S-Sorry?" The red-haired girl, Pyrrha apparently, apologized genuinely. "I just thought it would be better to kill it before anything else happened."

"No, it was probably for the best," Ren said, before promptly falling to the ground in exhaustion.

Ugh, Jaune could relate. As his vision began to grow dim, he fell right next to Ren and lost consciousness.

* * *

**Finally, this story is finally past 1k follows. Thanks for all the support. From now on, or at least for the next few weeks till school starts up, it's gonna be a weekly schedule. YAY!**

**So, here's my excuse for the late chapter. As I said, my internet crashed while I was writing and I didn't save properly when I refreshed the page. ****It was kinda hard trying to rewrite everything again without feeling a sense of annoyance, and I kinda procrastinated doing so as well.**** That's why this is released on a Monday instead of a Sunday. **

**And like I said in the last chapter and just now, this story is gonna be switching to a weekly post schedule for a while (as in, until school starts up again for me). Honestly, I should've switched a few weeks back. And since I already messed up the schedule for this last Sunday, I'll be posting another chapter out sooner (probably on a Wednesday) to make up for the late schedule. So watch out for that. I'm gonna skim a bit of the ending and make that the start of the next chapter instead.**

**I kinda fixed the previous chapters somewhat. Nothing major, so you don't have to read it again for anything new. Honestly, I kinda cringed seeing how I wrote in some places. Not enough to justify rewriting the chapter, but I'll try to keep my past mistakes in mind from now on. After all, the whole point of this is to help me improve as a writer.**


	14. The Results

**A.N. (7/29/20) - Yup, Wednesday chapter to make up for the last post being released late. Also, there's a new omake in the spin-off series Side Stories of Dust, if you haven't noticed yet. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 14 - The Results

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Sometimes, the years seemed to catch up to him.

Ozpin took another sip out of his mug as he waited alone in the hallway for the inevitable confrontation. With how things played out today, he guessed that a certain Magus would like to have a word with him. And sure enough, from around the corner came a young Rin Tohsaka with a serious look on her face.

Oh boy, this looks like it'll take a while.

"Not particularly my ass. You totally did something to the initiation this year." A furious Rin came to a stop in front of him. "Alright, spill. How much of all of that was orchestrated by you?"

Ozpin sighed. "Not as much as you think. I did send Peter to deal with the Death Stalker, although I realize I should've clarified I meant the one in the cave. I did not plan for a Nevermore attacking even though you told me of your version of events."

"And the teams? The partners?" Rin pulled out a map from somewhere with several markings on it. "I looked at the recordings and marked where everyone landed. Ruby and Yang were positioned almost right next to Blake and Weiss. Pyrrha was isolated so that she would encounter Jaune first, and that didn't happen only because Nora and Ren were also close to Jaune, and Nora somehow found Jaune first. And somehow Cardin was placed almost on the opposite side of the forest, where he wouldn't have interacted with any of the names I just said. Even more incredibly, he somehow met up with the other names of Team Cardinal I mentioned?"

"Believe it or not, that last one actually was a coincidence."

"So you admit to doing something to get the members of Team RWBY and JNPR together?"

Ozpin shrugged. "You wouldn't believe me if I said no. So why deny it at this point if you won't believe otherwise."

Granted, he couldn't exactly have someone program the launchers to do it for him. No, he personally himself did the dirty work. Sneaking around the cliffs late at night while making sure Glynda wasn't there to stop him was something he didn't imagine having to do. He had to brush a few of his old skills and do it himself to not draw suspicion from anyone. Oh, and also to not let anyone know that he rigged a school test for personal reasons. The other Professors might have some complaints if they heard about that.

Thank all the coffee in the world - not God, cause screw them - that he's gained a lot of miscellaneous knowledge over the years. Reincarnating into random individuals and gaining their memories does have a couple of perks.

"You gonna tell me why you felt the need to do this behind my back?"

"I'll apologize now for the deception. I was not sure that you would've agreed with this tactic. But you do realize that as morally compromising my decision was, I am engaged in a shadow war with the leader of humanity's greatest enemy. Your appearance marked a change in this world and your boon of information forever changed the battle between us and Salem."

"Get to the point." Ah, looks like she's not in the mood for conversation.

"Very well. I believed that the current generation of Huntsman and Huntresses may be our best chance against Salem. These students will most likely find themselves on the front lines against Salem's forces, and it is our best option to make sure that we make the best use of their talents and abilities as soon as possible. If this means placing them in tested and compatible teams, then so be it."

"Couldn't you just hope for the best? Leave things up to fate?" Rin parroted the words he told her earlier that day.

"I don't believe cheating in a school entrance exam compares to gambling on the fate of humanity. I saw that the cost was low and made a gamble that may or may not pay off."

"And you would know all about costs and gambles, wouldn't you?"

Ozpin didn't rise to the bait. "Yes."

The two stared at each other for a long while. These confrontations always took a toll out of Ozpin. Logically, he could justify his actions because why else would he commit to doing so if he didn't believe that it was necessary. Still, that didn't mean that he liked compromising his morals every time an opportunity to change things came around.

Rin turned away. "I don't like it, but I'm not exactly the best person to complain."

"Your sins do not compare to mine. You may be complicit, there is no denying that. But not to the extent you believe yourself to be."

"Please, my friendship with Ruby is not exactly as pure as she would believe it to be. I'm pretty sure I'm not friends with her just because she has silver eyes. Honestly, I'm shocked that it's not me who's making people join certain teams," Rin answered, rubbing her forehead and letting out a tired sigh. "You would think that since I'm the one changing things, I would be the one who would want to keep things as close to what I knew as much as possible to help predict the events to come."

"The burden of knowledge."

Rin gave out a huff. "I prefer to think of it as noblesse oblige. I do try to make things better. Helping Ruby graduate early and warning her to watch out for anyone who's interested in her eyes. You know, simple stuff."

With that, it looks like Rin is finally calming down. Honestly, Ozpin never really believed that Rin was as angry as she portrayed herself just now.

It felt more like Rin _thought_ she had to feel that way. It was probably her way of dealing with the fact that she was effectively manipulating and lying to her friends. Ozpin sighed as he realized that the way Rin was acting was something he could relate to in his early days.

Back then, he was all by himself. A man with a mission from the Gods to somehow defeat his wife and lead humanity to become greater than they were. Every new companion or friendship he made was tainted by the knowledge that he could never truly open up to another person without harming them in some way.

It was jarring, seeing someone with such similar circumstances to himself act before him. The closest he could remember seeing someone act this way was whenever he had to bond with a new host. The chain of events of uprooting their lives and forcing them to fight in a war against Salem.

Ozpin may be cursed to reincarnate forever till the end of Salem's ways and the unity of humanity. But his true curse is the secrets he had to keep, the knowledge he had to hide from those he cared about.

"Let us go, Rin. We still have to announce the teams before the day is done."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," Rin started to trot after him before eventually walking next to his side.

As they were walking to the auditorium, Ozpin faintly recalled a conversation he once had with Rin.

"Say, I have a question."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Do you recall a particular story you told me about a while ago. The story about the Once and Future King?"

"King Arturia? Yeah, what about it?"

"There was a passage that you mentioned that I have trouble recalling. It was something to do with the Court Wizard reprimanding the young King over an answer."

Rin took a moment to recall the conversation. "...ah! Oh yeah, I remember. What about it?"

"Can you please recite that part again for me."

Rin gave him a weird look. "Sure. I don't see why not." Rin cleared her throat and began to speak with a rhythmic voice fit for storytelling.

"The Once and Future King, Artoria, lost her fabled Sword of the Stone: Caliburn at a point in her life and obtained Excalibur and Avalon from the Lady of the Lake to replace her lost weapon. It is said that in legends, Merlin one day asked Artoria about which implement was better, and the young King answered without hesitation that her sword Excalibur was the greater. Merlin chided her for choosing the sword and lectured her over her answer.

_"The sword slashes the enemy, but the sheath protects you. As long as you have the sheath on you, you will spill no blood and take no wounds. You should truly value the sheath, not the sword."_

For with her sheath, the King of Knights was immortal as long as she had Avalon. And when her sheath was stolen later in life, the fall of King Arthur was fated when she lost the sheath she should never have lost."

Rin stopped and spoke again in her normal voice. "...so I guess the moral of the story is to value your protection over your ability to fight. Why are you asking about this anyways?"

"I just wanted to jog my memory about something. I saw what Mister Arc did with that weapon of yours. What did you call it? A Noble Phantasm."

"Kinda. It was an attempt at replicating a Skill-type Noble Phantasm. But the more commonly known ones were weapons or objects of power, like the ones I just mentioned. _Caliburn: Golden Sword of the Victorious_. _Excalibur: Sword of Promised Victory_. And _Avalon: The Everdistant Utopia_. Those are way more powerful than the fake sword I had Jaune borrow. I'm guessing you're curious after that little display earlier."

"I cannot deny that. With how you explained your ability to summon your so-called Heroic Spirits, I was curious of the possibilities of encountering such objects in the future."

She hummed. "I guess that makes sense. Ana can't exactly show the full might of her legend at the moment." Rin took a moment to stare at a space next to her, which Ozpin guessed was where the introverted spirit hid. "So it makes sense that you'd be curious about Noble Phantasms after seeing how Jaune did."

The two of them reached the end of the hallway and stopped at a set of doors.

"Well, I guess this is where we part. I'm gonna go to where the rest of the Professors are and watch the ceremony from there."

"Quite. Then this is goodbye for now, and I believe it is time for me to speak up on stage."

"Heh, better you than me."

Ozpin chuckled. "Who knows, there may be a time where you'll have to take the stage in the near future."

"Pshh. Nah," Rin waved her hand in denial. "I'm just a humble researcher and part-time student aide. At most, I'll be speaking in Combat Class. Not to the whole school."

The doors opened, and the two of them stepped through. As Rin left, Ozpin took a moment to recall the story Rin told him earlier.

In the future, there will be a time where he will have to harden his heart and force his students to fight his battles for him. But he must not forget that they are not his weapons. That they are protectors first and warriors second. The time for battle will come. A time when they will rise to become the defenders of the world.

Ozpin started to walk up the stage.

But right now, they're still children. And as Headmaster, it is his duty to guide them into becoming more.

}-{

"Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Dove Bronzewing, Sky Lark," the voice of Headmaster Ozpin spoke throughout the room. "The four of you have completed the objective and collected the black bishop pieces. From now on, you will all work together as a new team. Henceforth, you will be known as Team CRDL or Team Cardinal, led by Cardin Winchester."

The crowd started clapping, and Blake had to move as Yang and the Schnee started to have another argument right next to her. While Blake is thankful for the blonde brawler for taking her place to partner with the Schnee, their constant arguing was getting kinda annoying.

Blake smiled as she recalled earlier that day. The memory of her repeatedly chanting 'What color are my eyes' while she ran away from the Schnee was pretty funny even now. Running into the sisters was another stroke of good luck, as the younger sister Ruby had managed to somehow convince Yang and Weiss to partner up instead.

For some reason, Ruby seemed unusually adamant about partnering up with Blake after their collision. Maybe to get away from having her sister as a partner. Maybe it had something to do with Weiss screaming at the young girl, "You have silver eyes. Partner with me!" at the top of her lungs like a lunatic. Who knows?

She did act weird around Weiss the whole time afterward. But that might be due to her having to break up arguments between her sister and the Schnee every five minutes or so. Blake felt no small amount of irritation during their walk to the Temple, so that probably was a factor for the young girl's mood.

Blake frowned. Now that she thought about it, even though she's not partners with the Schnee, she's probably gonna be teammates with her after all. Sure, they were able to put their differences aside and fight together earlier. But that doesn't mean that it's gonna be smooth sailing from this point onward.

The Headmaster continued to call out. "Jaune Arc, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos."

The four students walked up the stage, even if two of them looked like they'd rather be in bed. Next to her, Ruby started to cheer and holler as the four stood to attention.

"The four of you have collected the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will now be known as..." Ozpin took a moment to pause and glance towards the stands where the teachers were at. Blake saw Rin staring at the four students on stage with a confused look on her face.

"Team AVLN or Team Avalon, led by Jaune Arc."

"You what now!" Rin's exclamation was met with a reprimanding Goodwitch standing over her. Her reaction was ignored by the crowd as everyone continued to clap for the newly formed team. Blake watched as Rin seemed to apologize to Goodwitch, then turning back to Ozpin with a glare. Huh, wonder what that was all about?

"And finally Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Yang Xiao Long."

Walking up to the stage, Blake ignored the whistles a few of the students were sending their way. Guess she has to deal with the problems of being part of an all-girls team. Oh well, she can deal with it. All she has to do is stay in the background and hope nothing special happens in the next four years. Standing in a line, the four of them waited for Ozpin to speak.

"The four of you have retrieved the white knight pieces, and have completed your objective. Henceforth, the four of you will be known as Team BRWY or Team Bravery."

_'Huh, that's a pretty neat name,'_ Blake thought. It took Blake a moment to realize something was off. _'Wait a minute, if the team name starts with a 'B' doesn't that mean...'_

"... led by Blake Belladonna."

Wait, what?! NO!

"What?! NO!" Looks like the Schnee is also in disbelief. Strange, agreeing with a Schnee.

"Seriously, the hell Ozpin?!" And that was Rin this time. And Goodwitch is reprimanding her for interrupting again. Really, what's up with her?

As they were walking off the stage, her partner was walking next to her prattling on. "Oh! Congrats, Blake. Don't worry. As your partner and I guess right-hand woman, I'll definitely help you lead this team to ultimate glory. We'll be the bestest team ever, and take the school by the knees. Ah, not that there's anything special about knees. Normal knees here. Speaking of which, you have really nice knees..."

Her partner is an underaged motormouth. Her partner's sister is an unhinged loud and attention-grabbing brawler. And her last teammate is a Schnee with a grudge against her. And somehow, she's supposed to be the leader of all three of them when all she wanted was to find a hole to hide in and read.

Maybe her karma from being a former Faunus-supremacist terrorist is finally kicking in. This was not how she expected her school life was gonna go.

"Oh! Can we have bunk beds?"

"Sure thing Rubes, if Miss Snotty over here's willing to put up with it."

"What did you call me you wretch?!"

Blake whimpered and started to hope this was all a dream.

* * *

**And, that's a wrap. Like I promised, another chapter to make up for the late release on Monday. Just a warning, this Sunday I have something to do so I might post late. Probably late afternoon or later.**

**So let's talk about the chapter. At first, I was gonna go with my original plan of having the regular Team RWBY and Team JNPR, cause why not. Then I realized a few things about how my story was gonna go forward from this point on.**

**I want to focus a bit more on the White Fang problem. That meant involving casting Blake more as a main character than usual. Since Ozpin knows of her potential actions if left unchecked, he managed to bind her to the responsibilities of being a leader. This way, if she plans on going against the White Fang, hopefully, she'll involve her team more instead of going on a one-woman mission. **

**This is a better choice than if anyone else was chosen as the leader. Yang would prioritize Ruby over her other teammates and wouldn't exactly have the necessary mindset needed to be a leader anyways. Weiss needs to learn a bit of humility instead of learning to rule others. Ruby already has shown growth under the watchful eye of Ozpin and Goodwitch during the past two years. Thus, Blake has the best opportunity to grow into the position as a leader in my opinion.**

**Also, I couldn't exactly find a good team name that fit the color rule. Just assume that Team Bravery fits the color rule by arguing that red is the color of bravery. On that topic, assume that either blue or gold is the color of Team Avalon. Since Jaune is the leader, more likely their team color is some kind of yellow slash gold.**


	15. The First Day

**A.N. (8/2/20) - As mentioned previously, this was a late release due to a couple of things I had to do this morning. **

* * *

Chapter 15 - The First Day

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

The residents of the lower part of Mistral knew to avoid certain establishments. Having lived here their whole lives, they knew which establishments were merely fronts for the more criminal elements of the city.

One such sign is the spider emblem covering the entrance to a certain bar. Those who lived in these parts of the town knew that this was the territory of Lil' Miss Malachite and her organization of info brokers and mafiosos.

Inside the tavern in a hidden back room, the headwoman herself sighed as she received another report from her spies in Haven Academy.

"So approximately a third of the staff is compromised in the Lionheart case and is guilty of aiding and even directly dealing with the deaths of certain Huntsman and Huntresses. Great, just what this city needs."

Lil' Miss tsked and checked another paper. "The recent inspections almost rooted out a couple of our people. And with them Atlas loaned grunts in the city, there's a big crackdown on most of our overt operations."

The woman standing nearby spoke. "We still got a couple of deals in Vale. Junior is expecting another shipment of weapons soon."

Lil' Miss waved her hand. "Yes, yes. But with those Atlas soldiers here it's almost impossible to do anything about it. Call him and tell him to expect a delay, darling. At least another week or two." She shivered, suddenly feeling a chill in the air. "Oh, and check if the heating's wonky. It's freezin' here."

"Yes, Ma'am." The woman nudged her fellow guard and the two left the room.

Lil' Miss chuckled and began to think about her two daughters currently in Vale. Hm, it's been a while since she saw the two of them. With the Vytal Festival coming up, maybe it's time for her to take a little visit and check in on them. But then again...

She grimaced as she pulled out another report. Two more deaths this week, making it already seven of her people dead so far. The only thing they had in common was that no one knew who or what killed them, only that they were viciously murdered when alone or out of sight. And that most of them were out of the city the day they supposedly died.

It wasn't just limited to her organization either. Several well known Huntsman and Huntresses have been reported missing in the past few weeks. Mainly solo fighters or those in small groups. Every one of them had taken a mission near the same area where her people had been, and Lil' Miss suspected that all those Hunters were dead as well.

No, she was certainly too busy to take time away from her work. Maybe she'll send a tip to the visiting law enforcement to check that area out. There certainly is a surplus of Atlas soldiers here with nothing better to do after all.

She shivered again and started to rub her hands together. Really, what is up with this cold? Suddenly, Lil' Miss took notice of the fact that her breath was visible and that it definitely wasn't cold enough to do that a minute ago.

Where were her bodyguards? They shouldn't have taken long to change the temperature.

"Knitter? Pitters?" She called for her bodyguards but heard no answer. Rubbing her shoulders to keep warm, she turned her head towards the door that led to where everyone else was. Now that she was paying attention, she couldn't hear anything. This was concerning, as it was the middle of the day and there should have been some sounds of her workers bustling or customers drinking at this time.

The lights overhead briefly flickered, before returning to normal. Standing up and walking to the door, she stopped rubbing her shoulders for a moment to open the door and walk out into the bar. Looking around, her confusion grew.

The tavern was completely empty. No workers manning the bar, no regulars drinking at the tables, and none of her people standing guard. The entire tavern was completely empty, and somehow Lil' Miss missed that fact until she walked out the room.

Walking around, she saw something strange. One of her customers was a retired Huntsman. Not active enough to care about her criminal activities, but the man was still one to carry his weapon wherever he went in case things went awry. That same weapon now laid before her eyes against an empty chair without the owner anywhere nearby.

A few other things stood out to her. A used cigarette that looked like it fell to the floor. A spilled drink that had its contents dripping down another table. A coin purse laying on a table.

"What in the Sam Hills is going on?"

Walking past another table, she saw the glowing screen of a still turned-on Scroll playing something. Picking it up, she turned up the volume to listen to what seemed to be the News.

_"—Today, at around approximately 2:30 PM, there was a massive blackout throughout the city that lasted for approximately 20 seconds before everything returned to normal. As of twenty minutes ago, police and patrolling Atlas soldiers are receiving strange reports of abnormal temperatures affecting various parts of the city. Areas of the city are now covered in what appears to be ice, and some witnesses are reporting cases of odd atmospheric phenomena.—"_

Lil' Miss raised her eyebrow. Abnormal temperatures affecting various parts of the city? At least she knows why the heating isn't working. But where are all her customers and people?

A rustle of noise suddenly interrupted her thoughts and made Lil' Miss look up from the Scroll. Pulling out a small gun from underneath one of the tables, she jumped back towards the counter. Pointing her gun forward, she warily turned to see what the source was.

A man walked into the bar, unconcerned at the gun pointed his way.

Lil' Miss sighed and lowered her gun. "Larry, what the hell are you doing here."

"Not in the mood, Lil' Miss. My restaurant is empty and I'd like to know why. From the looks of things here, I'm guessing you've got the same problem."

Larry was the owner of a little restaurant near here and was almost considered a business rival if Lil' Miss didn't have other sources of income and the fact that she didn't particularly care about the earnings of the bar.

"Well, I don't know where everyone's gone either. All I know is that it suddenly turned freezing and that suddenly the tavern's empty."

"Yeah, same for me. I came over after I checked the building to see if anyone was still there. A couple of people I talked to outside here also remarked about their friends or family missing. Supposedly, they were just walking next to them, and then they disappeared without notice."

"Really, this all seems like the plot to some horror mov—"

Gunshots ran off in the distance and interrupted her words. Both of them snapped their heads towards the door as they both drew their weapons, Larry carrying some kind of butcher's knife slash gun.

The sounds of gunshots stopped all of a sudden, and the two warily looked at each other in concern.

"Do you have a few of your people out there?" He held his butcher's knife in a cautious manner.

"They should be on patrol if they haven't disappeared like everyone else. I'm guessing that might actually be them."

"Well, you got a radio or something."

"Hold on a mo."

Heading to the counter, she reached over it to grab at a small hand-radio. Tapping a button to the side, she held it against her mouth.

"Status report. Lil' Miss checking in. Anyone copy?"

Nothing but static. She tried again, repeating the same line, but nobody answered.

Larry couldn't help but ask, "How many of your men were out there?"

"Ten."

The radio crackled and suddenly started making noises by itself. The sounds of warbled screaming and static shocked Lil' Miss into dropping the hand-radio before suddenly the radio grew quiet once more. Lil' Miss felt her heart beating fast as she tried to calm herself from the sudden scare she received.

"Well, that was unexpected."

The only reply she got was silence.

"...Larry?" Turning to where she last saw him, she found nobody there. Just like everyone else, he had disappeared while Lil' Miss wasn't paying attention.

Completely freaked at this point, she warily called out. "Larry? I swear if this is some prank..." Turning around, she blinked as she saw something black and monstrous staring right at her.

A scream rang throughout the area before growing silent once more. Nobody was on the street to hear it though, as even the streets were empty.

A black creature slowly walked out of the building, leaving a trail of ice wherever it passed. The sounds of sirens rang in the distance and the creature began to make a horrid sound.

It was laughing. Laughing at the top of its lungs.

}-{

Rin woke to the sound of her Scroll ringing.

This wasn't exactly an unusual thing to wake up to, as Rin had long ago trained herself to wake up to the annoying sound even if she didn't want to. But it wasn't her alarm that woke her up this time. This time, it was an actual call from someone.

"Ugh, who's calling at this hour?" She contemplated ignoring the call for a moment, then decided that it was probably better to just answer it. It's unlikely to be a telemarketer or random call, so it's either a Professor, Tukson, or Ruby. Picking up the Scroll on the dresser next to her, she turned it on and saw that it was around six in the morning. Answering the call, she held it near her ear.

_"Rin! Are you still asleep?"_ The sound of Tukson's voice came from the small device.

Rin groaned and half-heartedly grumbled, "I picked up, didn't I?"

_"Come on, Rin. This is supposed to be your official first day on the job. Don't accidentally fall asleep through the morning."_

"Why are you worrying so much? I'll have you know I had no trouble waking up on time to go to school every day."

_"Yes, you just sometimes choose not to get out of bed even when you're awake. I do recall getting a few phone calls telling me how you skipped a couple of morning classes during your time at Signal."_

"Pst~ I calculated the exact number of absences the school tolerates. I managed to graduate without any significant marks on my record after all."

_"That's not the point." _Rin could almost imagine Tukson sighing and rubbing his nose on the other end of the call. Actually, she could hear a few noises coming from his end.

_"Damn, that's my cue to leave. Good luck on the job today, I'll try and see if I can bring a cake over later this evening."_

"See you then Old Man."

_"Heh, break their legs Kid."_ The screen turned black as the Scroll call ended. Rin contemplated sleeping for another couple of minutes before deciding that Tukson would probably have something to say about that.

_'Welp, time to get out of bed.'_ Rin found her socks underneath her sheets and managed to put them on using only her feet. Getting out of bed, she slowly walked to the bathroom and started to wash up and prepare for the day.

Rin paused as she held her clothes in her hands. Looking through her drawers with a quick glance, Rin realized that she basically only had one outfit with several copies of the same outfit filling her drawer.

"Damn, I need a fashion makeover." Maybe Rin could ask Velvet to introduce her to Coco. It might be time for Rin to embrace her hidden fashionista. Let's add that to the schedule today. Speaking of which...

"Hey, Ana. Are you there?"

The young girl materialized out of thin air. "Yes, Rin?"

"Do you want to do anything while I'm working today? I'll just be in the assigned Workshop until lunch. I don't want you to be bored while I'm working."

"I'll go with you. Protect from danger."

Rin gave a wry smile. "I don't really think you need to worry about danger while I'm in school. At most, I'll have to worry about a stray bullet or punch."

"Still," the little girl insisted.

"Alright, alright. Fine, if you're okay with that."

Ana nodded, then switched to her Astral Form. Rin could tell that she was still there through her bond, but now Ana could follow her around without attracting attention. It'd be weird if someone her age walked around Beacon. Rin alone received a few curious glances from a couple of the students.

Hm, but what else is she doing today? There's that meeting with Glynda later this evening, but other than that there's not much else to do other than work on a couple of her projects.

Actually, why not take a moment of her time to visit Ruby and Yang. And while on the way, maybe she can check up on Jaune and run a couple of tests on him. The preliminary test yesterday did give a few interesting readings after all.

And now that she's reminded of it, Rin did just lose her personal weapon yesterday. Rin doesn't really need a weapon, so losing Sasaki Kojiro isn't too much of a loss. But it is about time Rin made another prototype to present to Zelretch. She did spend a couple of days studying Raven's Aura signature and that weird pocket dimension underneath Haven Academy, so her studies on spacial manipulation are a lot better than before.

And Rin still needs to return Jaune his weapon and shield. It still needs a few finishing touches, but it should be ready by tomorrow.

A knock from the door interrupted Rin's thoughts. "Rin! You awake yet?"

Rin opened the door to see Velvet standing at the entrance, a smile on her face. Behind her peering over her shoulders was Coco and next to them was the rest of Team CFVY standing guard in the hallway. Everyone was wearing the school uniform, which looked quite nice now that Rin noticed.

"Damn, nice digs," commented Coco as she strutted into the room. Velvet walked in afterward with an apologetic smile on her face. "Hey, boys! Don't just stand looking lost in the hallway. Come on in."

"Coco! You can't just barge in and invite others into someone else's room," Velvet complained.

"Well, that's the whole point of coming here." Turning to Rin, the fashionista introduced herself. "First time meeting you. Name's Coco. The two guys out there are Fox and Yatsuhashi."

"Ugh, Coco you are just unbelievable."

Rin smiled. "It's fine. Might as well since you're all already here." Rin turned to the two boys who just entered the room. "Nice to meet you. My name is Rin Tohsaka. I don't know exactly what my job title here at Beacon is, but I'm part of the staff as a hired researcher."

"Greetings. We have heard a lot of great things about you from Velvet." Yatsuhashi shook her hands. Fox just nodded next to him.

"So yeah, this is my team," Velvet gestured. "Can't believe I've never introduced you to them before. Tukson called me a while ago to check in on you and see if you actually woke up."

Ugh, of course he would do that. "Thanks, Velvet. It's nice to see you and your team as well. You look good in that uniform. This is the first time I've seen you with it."

"Yeah, Vels sure rocks the skirt. She just wanted to stop by quickly before classes started and we decided to follow her."

"Well, thank you for visiting." It is kinda nice that they did so. "I actually have to go soon. I have to meet a couple of friends of mine. Have you talked with Jaune yet Velvet? I'm on my way to meet him and two others now."

"Yeah, I saw him on my way here. We talked for a bit before coming this way. Apparently there was some kind of commotion from one of the rooms near him. Some kind of explosion?"

Well, that sounds concerning.

}-{

Ruby watched the chaos unfold right before her eyes. Blake was hiding it out in the bathroom, the lucky coward. Meanwhile, her sister and her partner were continuing to argue.

"How is this my fault?"

"Well, it was your trash lying around."

"It's not trash, it's Dust - mined and purified from the Schnee quarry."

"Why do you even have Dust lying around in our room? We have our weapons lockers."

"I ran out of space. I only brought a couple of vials."

"Those 'couple of vials' went off from one sneeze, blasting me into the ceiling and destroying both of our beds."

"Well, it's your fault from waving it around in the air earlier."

"I was just getting my shampoo. Why was it even next to your stuff anyways?!"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you dropped it when you were fooling around earlier?!"

Ruby discreetly snuck out the door room and closed the door behind her. Sheesh, even with the door closed she can still hear them arguing.

The door opposite theirs was open, and Jaune poked his head out. "Bad morning?"

"Eyup. Do you know a place in Vale where we can buy another bed?"

"I've been using a Mistrilian futon for the past month. I can let you borrow it if you need it."

"Maybe. Weiss will probably just buy something for herself. Dunno about Yang though."

"Oh." The two awkwardly stood around before Jaune started to ask, "So... wanna hide with us while they duke it out?"

"Please."

* * *

**Wow, I added a lot more OCs than I was expecting at the beginning of this chapter. So this is where I try and push for an alternate story continuity. Yay! What is going on with Mistral? Who is that black creature? And what caused those disappearances?**

**Also, this is the first direct appearance of Team CFVY. And the shenanigans of Weiss and Yang continue. Also, Tukson is still being an overprotective father. **

**Next week is gonna be what classes are like. Most of my recent chapters were around 3K words, and that's cause I'm switching to a weekly schedule. I don't even plan it out that way, that's just how it works when I try to write.**

**But yeah, since there are a lot of changes due to Rin's meddling, I'm gonna slowly introduce the consequences of attempting to change things. This may either make the story better or worse with the direction I'm taking it in, so crossed fingers everyone.**


	16. Class Time

**A.N. (8/9/20) - Another day, another chapter. A bit short but still something nice. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 16 - Class Time

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Pyrrha didn't really know what to think about her teammates.

On one hand, no one acted like excited fans waiting for the nearest opportunity to ask her for her autograph. That was one thing Pyrrha feared about when she imagined what her teammates would've acted like. So the fact that her team was mostly cordial was already a plus positive in her book.

But that was it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. Everyone was too tired after the events of yesterday to do anything more than collapse on their beds and waste the rest of the day away. Especially the two males of their team. Nora had excitedly babbled for a while before realizing that Pyrrha wasn't exactly a chatterbox herself. There was an awkward silence for a while when Nora had run out of things to talk about before they both decided to just call it a day.

So Pyrrha hoped that the morning would be a bit different. She'd wake up early to prepare for the day and wait for the others to wake up. And then hopefully they'd find time to get to know each other for a bit before classes start.

Things got crazy when everyone woke up to the sound of an explosion happening next door.

After finding out what was going on, Jaune apparently invited Ruby to come to their room while her teammates continued to fight. Pyrrha and the others didn't mind her presence, but then Pyrrha realized something.

Jaune had Ruby to talk to since apparently they became friends before initiation. Ren and Nora knew each other before coming to Beacon. This meant that Pyrrha had no one to talk to and thus she was awkwardly lingering around near her bed with no idea what to do.

"Hey, Jaune! Open up, it's Rin." The sounds of someone loudly knocking on the door broke the conversations in the room. Jaune was making a gurgling sound in fright as he realized who it was at the door.

"Hey! It's Rin," exclaimed Ruby.

"Oh no, it's Rin," moaned Jaune.

"Is there something wrong," she asked. Ren and Nora had also taken to staring at their suddenly fearful leader.

Jaune turned to Pyrrha with eyes of fright, hands grabbing the side of his head. "She's gonna kill me! I borrowed her sword to use for initiation - and I broke it! What if she asks for it back? What if she's here because she knows?"

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that," Ruby commented. "But this is Rin we're talking about. Fifty-fifty says she'll either not care at all or blow a fuse if she knows."

"Don't worry partner," a smiling Nora said. "We'll avenge you once she's finished pummeling you."

Rin's voice came from the other side of the door. "Hello? Anyone gonna open the door and let me in?"

Ren looked at Jaune and quirked an eyebrow. "You do realize that she's most likely gonna be even angrier if you leave her outside too long."

"Yeah, I know." Jaune sighed and got up to open the door. A young girl around the same age as Ruby walked into the room. She was dressed in a similar color scheme as Ruby and was even similar in height to the caped girl. For a moment, Pyrrha thought she might've been Ruby's sister. After all, if someone like Yang with a drastically different physical appearance could be sisters with Ruby, why not someone like the girl in front of her.

Rin was about to say something before Ruby tackled her with a hug. "Rin! Did you miss me? Did you miss me?!"

"Ruby, we saw each other just yesterday. We talked for hours after the welcome ceremony."

"Yeah, but that's yesterday. I wanted to see you today," replied Ruby with a bright smile. Rin's face flushed before she broke their hug. Clearing her throat, she turned to Jaune. "Hey, la Pucelle. Aren't you gonna introduce me to your team." A weird look crossed her face for a moment. "Team Avalon, right?"

"Oh, right." The boy looked happy that Rin wasn't mentioning what happened yesterday. Jaune turned and gestured to Nora. "This is my partner, Nora Valkyrie. Over there next to her is Lie Ren, we call him Ren. And his partner is Pyrrha Nikos."

Rin took a moment to look at her. "Oh, the Greek girl. Ana was curious about you yesterday."

"A-Ana?"

"Yeah. Oh, speaking of which," turning to Ruby and Jaune. "I haven't introduced her to you yet Ruby. Jaune's met her already, but I forgot to introduce you to her yesterday."

"Oh, yeah. You mentioned something like that before. Something about a friend you met over the summer?"

"Yeah. I'll introduce you to her now. Hey, Ana! You can come out."

Pyrrha was wondering who Rin was talking to - since she wasn't facing the direction of the door - when out of nowhere the young girl from yesterday suddenly appeared in the middle of their dorm room. Ruby yelped and moved backward while Pyrrha herself was slightly surprised herself. Jaune looked used to it, while Nora was staring in shock.

"Intriguing. Is that her Semblance." Somehow Ren didn't freak out and instead seemed to be taking things in stride.

"Oh - my - gosh. You're friends with a ghost?!" Nora exclaimed.

Rin winced. "That's... not untrue. But please don't call her that."

Pyrrha took the chance to observe the young girl that just appeared. Similar to Ruby, the girl wore a cloak around herself - covering up most of her body. She was about a foot shorter than Rin herself, making her the shortest person in the room. The girl was staring right back at Pyrrha. Embarrassed, Pyrrha turned her head to the side. From the corner of her eye, Pyrrha saw that the girl lost interest and went back to watching Rin.

Rin continued on. "This is Ana. She's someone I kinda knew from back home. We met up in Vale and now she's living with me. Ana's a pretty good fighter and can match blows for blows with the likes of Qrow and a few of the professors at school."

"Wow, even I'm not that good." Ruby held out her hand to Ana. "Hi, I'm Ruby Rose. I'm Rin's friend too. It's nice to meet you."

Ana stared at Ruby for a moment, causing Ruby to awkwardly hold her hand in the air. After a moment, Ana shook her hand. Ruby beamed at that.

"Hey, class starts in an hour. It's probably best if we have breakfast now while there's still time," Jaune commented. As if waiting for those words, the sound of his stomach growling echoed throughout the room.

Rin snickered at that. "College boy, getting his priorities straight."

Jaune's face flushed and he hurriedly explained. "I haven't eaten a proper meal in days. Literally, the burger you gave me and the dinner last night were the largest portions of food I've had in weeks."

As everyone started to walk out of the room, Pyrrha could hear Rin conspiringly whisper to Nora. "The blond fool got scammed real bad about a month ago and lost all his funds. He's the most stereotypical broke college student I've ever met. So make sure he doesn't just spend the rest of the school year eating instant noodles again."

"Roger that, oh Lady of the Twintails."

Ren sighed next to them. "Nora, that's a bit rude."

"Nah, it's fine. I kinda like that title." Rin posed and held her hand stretched outward. "Fear me, for I am the Lady of the Twintails."

She felt a hint of envy at how easy the rest of her teammates were chatting with each other. Somehow, a stranger was getting along better with her teammates than her. Sure, she's known Jaune for a while now and Pyrrha had just met her teammates. But that's no excuse for how Rin's able to befriend Nora and Ren.

And Ruby and Jaune were getting along too. Pyrrha sighed. Why was this so hard? Why was she getting jealous over such a small thing?

The Invincible Girl. Able to best all her opponents, yet unable to even have a simple talk with her teammates.

"You okay?" A quiet voice broke her thoughts. Looking to her side, Pyrrha stared at the girl walking beside her. Now that she thought about it, Pyrrha wasn't the only one who seemed unable to fit in.

"Are you okay," the young girl repeated.

Pyrrha thought about it and awkwardly smiled. "I'll be fine."

Hopefully, she will be.

}-{

"Looking forward to lessons, Leader?" Yang asked as she sat to her right. Weiss, fuming over another argument they had, sought to place herself to Blake's left. Ruby walked passed her and Blake couldn't help but send a glare her way. Ruby awkwardly chuckled as she took a seat next to Weiss.

Some partner, abandoning her earlier this morning.

"Yes. I am interested in how Beacon will handle our classes," Blake said, carefully choosing her words. Before Yang could speak, the Professor started his lesson.

"Monsters! Demons," an expressive Professor Port began. "Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

That was all Blake could remember before the entire lecture descended into an extremely boring waste of time. Almost the entire class was knocked out as the minutes passed. Yang's head was dropping onto the desk in front of her. Ruby looked like she was paying attention, but Blake noticed that she was actually sleeping while sitting upright.

Blake noted that the team that Ruby was close to was also struggling to stay awake. Nora was loudly snoring while Ren seemed to be meditating or something. Pyrrha was yawning while Jaune laid flat on his desk.

In fact, only Weiss seemed to be struggling to stay awake. If Blake didn't know any better, she would've assumed that this was some kind of mind-affecting Semblance of the Professor's. Once that caused mind-numbing boredom.

Luckily she brought a book with her to read. Honestly, it's probably best if she just reads on her own time instead of listening to the Professor. If he's this boring, then why not self-study. She could probably read ahead and skip listening to the next few lectures without too much trouble.

Blake sadly wasn't able to find a good seat near the back. Due to her teammates arguing almost the entire morning, the three of them were almost late for class, causing them to take the remaining seats near the front. It was only because Ruby came back to warn them that they actually made it on time in the first place.

Blake ignored the slight feeling of jealousy at how her young partner was able to escape most of the argument. Why did she think it was a good idea to lock herself in the bathroom again?

A harsh whisper broke through her thoughts. "Are you seriously reading right now?"

But of course, someone had to ruin her day.

"Yes," she whispered back to Weiss. "I am."

Weiss huffed. "A proper Team Leader should lead by example. If someone such as yourself displays examples of slacking off in class, it can jeopardize our team's reputation in the eyes of others."

Blake's eye twitched. Someone as myself? What exactly did she mean by that? She couldn't help but reply back sarcastically, "Such as whispering to your classmates when you should be taking notes."

"T-This doesn't c-count," an embarrassed Weiss replied back rather sharply. "I am just concerned that you are not up to the task of being a suitable leader."

Really? Is she serious?

"And what, you think you'd do a better job?" she asked.

"But of course," and she actually began to preen. "I am Weiss Schnee, and I have studied and trained to be able to accept the role of leadership for years under the finest of tutors. My qualifications come all the way from the most famous of Atlas private schools."

Does this girl really not realize what others think about her. Ruby is avoiding the girl. Yang constantly argues with her. And she herself had spent several dozen minutes running from the girl so that she wouldn't become her partner. Blake couldn't help but wonder if the girl was simply arrogant or deluded into thinking that she would succeed at leading this team. Blake imagined the worst at the possibility of Weiss giving her orders while arguing with Yang.

Then again, the other option was having herself lead the team.

Huh.

"You know what, fine." Blake closed her book with a snap, but not loudly enough to draw the Professor's attention. "I didn't want this stupid leader position anyway. If you want it so bad, we can talk to the professor after class and tell them you want to be the leader. Happy?"

"Very," Weiss nodded, ignoring Blake's slightly irritated look. "Thank you. I am glad that you have listened to reason."

Ugh, she was making this entire thing _really_ difficult to go through. Seriously, she may not be her partner but Weiss Schnee somehow found a way to become an annoyance on her team.

Blake didn't exactly want the Schnee to become her leader. But other than the fact that Blake would have to lead otherwise, it's not like it's the end of the world if Weiss is made leader of the team. As long as it's not an order while on the field, Blake had no obligation to actually listen to the girl. Besides, Weiss will probably be too busy handling Yang.

So yeah, Blake's just gonna wait for class to be over so that she can foist this unwanted position onto Weiss and finally hide in the background. It's not like they're gonna say no when clearly both of them would feel that it would be better for a change in leadership.

Some strange Murphy's Law reasoning told her that things probably weren't gonna go her way.

"Who thinks themselves a true hunter!?" Port bellowed.

"I am!" Weiss's hand shot into the air.

}-{

Rin hummed a melody as she fiddled with a few Dust crystals in her hand. "You think everyone is having fun with lessons right now?"

Ana didn't respond, but Rin felt her emotions through the Servant bond. Rin left Ana to herself as she finally finished with her project.

The new and improved Crocea Mors stood out with the blue and gold design on both the shield and sword. Rin had based the design off of the source of their team's name. Not just that, but Rin had taken the idea of the Atlas design for Crocea Mors and had implemented several features into it.

Now it has the ability to turn into a two-handed sword, create a hard-light projection to have a larger shield, and even repel certain forces with gravity Dust. And that didn't include the several reinforcements Rin made to the materials using several techniques involving Magecraft.

Honestly, Rin wanted to add a few more abilities to the set of sword and shield. But Rin felt that Jaune had to master the small things first before she could let him handle the more creative ideas she had.

But now that she's finished with Jaune's weapon, Rin finally had time to work on her next prototype for the Jewel Sword.

Rin thought about what she could do. The point of recreating the Jewel Sword was to impress Zelretch due to the inherent difficulty of the task itself.

To recreate the sword, she needed it to fulfill a few conditions. It must be able to draw in energy from parallel worlds, channeling that energy through the blade into an ether cannon, and being stable enough to handle that strain without breaking apart after only a few uses.

The ether cannon part is simple to figure out. The material and durability requirement might be harder to crack, but with Dust foundry techniques being what it is, Rin didn't have to worry too much on that front. Sure, she'll still have to research better techniques, but at least she has a stronger basis to deal with.

No, her problem is with the theory of the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon itself. She needed to create a prototype capable of drawing in large amounts of energy from parallel dimensions.

Her previous attempt managed to recreate an ability to attack from multiple dimensions. But now, Rin wanted to understand how to interact and operate with those parallel dimensions and see if she could leech energy from passive and empty worlds.

Could she test that? Maybe she should start small. First, create something capable of drawing in a large amount of energy at once without breaking or exploding. Then, finding a way to link to parallel dimensions where the energy is not needed or used. After conducting both experiments separately, find a way to combine them.

Alright, now she has a plan. Before she could do anything else, something interrupted her. The sound of her Scroll ringing confused her for a second before she realized what it was. Pulling out her Scroll and seeing who was calling her, her confusion turned to worry. Quickly, she pressed the button to answer the call.

Roman's voice came from the other end. _"Hey, Rin? You know how you asked us to call if we ever met up with someone from the White Fang? Well... you might wanna come to Junior's place for a bit. There's a weird lady in red making demands with a couple of Faunus goons with her. Things aren't looking pretty either."_

A horrible feeling settled in Rin's gut. For weeks, Rin had wondered why nothing seemed to be wrong in the criminal underworld. But whatever butterfly effects Rin caused were finally gone. Things were about to turn for the worse, and Rin had to tell Ozpin.

Cinder was here.

* * *

**So this is the first day of school. I kinda had trouble figuring out character interaction. In my head, I imagined that Pyrrha would kinda be a wallflower kind of person without anyone to interact with. Erin still doesn't really understand that Jaune and Pyrrha aren't really as friendly as they were in the show. I'm not saying that Pyrrha won't get along with her teammates, but it's a slow going.**

**Blake would definitely try and get out of her leadership position. I actually thought about having a sorta plot where Blake holds on to her leadership position because she doesn't trust anyone else since she's kinda-traumatized with her experience with her past leaders. But I didn't really know how to play that out.**

**It's interesting how much potential Blake has to grow as a character in a story. She has a tragic background and upbringing due to discrimination. She has notable personality flaws, such as distrust in authority. Heck, she even has harem-powers with Adam, Ilia, and Sun. Why isn't she the main character again?**

**It's not like she's my favorite character though. It's just interesting to write about her since she has such a workable package. Ruby's kinda harder to write about, especially after I upgraded her from introverted shy girl to competent mature genius. At most, she's probably gonna be the bestest supporting character and partner to Blake and her adventures. **

**And if you were wondering where in the world Cinder was all this time, then something is finally happening next chapter. Is Cinder finally making an appearance? Or could it be some other lady dressed in red? Maybe it's a crossdressing Adam Taurus making demands. Who knows? For all you know, it could be Raven having a drink with some random Faunus guyes dressed in White Fang uniforms. **


	17. Playing With Fire

**A.N. (8/17/20) - I know it's late by a whole day, but enjoy anyway.**

* * *

Chapter 17 - Playing With Fire

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Things weren't going so well.

Running up and informing Ozpin apparently wasn't an option. A quick reprimand from Glynda for running in the halls and a quick conversation with her told Rin that Ozpin was apparently out of town for the next few days. Something about a case in Mistral.

A coincidence? Or intentional on the enemy's part?

Either way, Rin couldn't count on Ozpin for backup. Glynda was technically in the know, but not to the extent of knowing Rin's relationship with the criminal part of Vale. While a noble and remarkable woman, Rin had to admit Glynda did have a few faults.

Like being a law-abiding person.

Rin wasn't sure if Glynda was willing to look away from Rin's relationship with the criminal side of Vale. And Rin didn't exactly want to lose her connection to the more unscrupulous options if she ever needed them. So she decided not to enlist her help for this case. Hopefully, that decision won't come back to bite her.

And that meant protecting the idiots that got themselves caught up in something bigger than themselves. Ugh, Roman better not be dead before she gets there.

Rin got on the next Bullhead to Vale and started to go over her options.

Obviously she was bringing Ana with her. The Servant was willing to fight on Rin's behalf. But Rin didn't want to bring Ana into this too early in the game. All Rin planned to do was scout the enemy without being noticed. In the worst-case scenario, Ana can help her either escape or fight the enemy.

But let's see what else she has first.

A modified coin dispenser belt attachment to allow the ejection of specified Dust crystals. Filled to the brim with charged spells unique to multiple scenarios.

And hopefully, Cinder won't notice the fact that Rin's using Magecraft. Nobody else has noticed so far. People seemed to believe that Rin was just an expert in Dust. While reasonable to assume, it wasn't exactly the truth. After all, if advanced enough technology can be passed off as magic, then magic can be passed off as sufficiently advanced technology. Or in this case, Magecraft can be passed off as fancy Dust manipulation.

What else did she have?

A small kit ready for a simple disguise to protect herself from being recognized later by Cinder or her goons. Could be useful.

And... Crocea Mors. A quick modification with Alteration Magecraft to change its shape and remove most of the gold highlights allowed it to become an entirely different sword. You never know when you'll need a good blade to cut someone with after all.

With everything she currently possesses, Rin started to formulate a plan at how she was gonna play this. An idea slowly came into play. Now all she needed was...

Sighing to herself, she started to rub the bridge of her nose. Why was she doing this? Wasn't she gonna leave this to Ozpin to handle? Wasn't that why she told Ozpin the future?

Except Ozpin isn't here now, for whatever reason. And Rin has no idea how to contact Qrow. And make no mistake, when Ozpin gets back Rin is _definitely _gonna get back at him for missing out.

"Warn me when we're almost there please."

_"Alright,"_ Ana's voice mentally replied back.

Opening the kit in her lap, Rin spent the rest of the ride preparing.

}-{

Ruby was currently reading one of Oobleck's assigned texts. Yang had left a while ago to meet with a couple of friends of hers, which meant that Ruby was currently the only one in their dorm room.

The sounds of footsteps told Ruby that someone was coming to their room. Either Team Avalon was going to their rooms or it was one of her teammates.

The door opened abruptly to allow an irritated Weiss into the room with a resigned Blake following behind her.

"Ugh, I cannot believe that man," Weiss grumbled. Blake shut the door gently behind her and sat down on her bed. Weiss was about to do the same before she realized that her bed was still a broken mess from earlier this morning. Ruby wordlessly got up from the chair she was sitting on and moved to sit on her bed instead. Weiss gave a short nod before taking the now-open seat.

Unfortunately, the moment she sat down she continued to complain. "Did you hear what he said. He just flat out refused us. Saying I have a horrible attitude and that I'm just a spoon-fed child."

Well, at least someone said it out loud.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't say those exact words," Blake interjected.

"Either way, it's obvious that his judgment is flawed. Tomorrow, we'll have to talk to either Ms. Goodwitch or Headmaster Ozpin. I'm sure either of them will be more willing to listen to reason."

Ruby saw Blake's face change as the black-haired girl's thoughts raced. The poor girl must be deciding whether it was worth the effort to do so. Finally, the girl seemed to resolve herself before she spoke.

"Weiss, I've been going along with you so far since I thought it would be a simple manner." Blake sighed again. "But it really seems like I'm stuck with being the leader of Team Bravery. Why don't we just give up and accept that this is the reality."

Somehow Ruby didn't see that happening. But who knows? Surely Weiss will be willing to at least consider it? Her hopes were dashed as Weiss gave her immediate reply.

"Unacceptable. A Schnee does not accept anything less than perfection."

"You really care for your reputation that much, don't you?"

"I care about the team's reputation. I just believe that it would be better with me at the forefront."

Blake held her face in her hands and groaned loudly, her hands muffling the sound. Uncovering her face, she looked to Weiss with a tired expression.

Ruby took pity on her partner and joined the conversation. "You know, I kinda agree with Blake here. Seems like a lot of effort for something as silly as this."

Weiss folded her arms. "Silly is not what I would call it."

Ugh, why is she being so difficult?

"Weiss, why does this matter so much to you. It's just a school-assigned position that has no real weight outside paperwork and bragging rights."

"It matters when we're trusting our lives to listen to a leader's orders."

"I'm pretty sure that's not the reason you want to be the team leader," Ruby said dryly while rolling her eyes. "But even if that were true, why does that matter now? We're students. They're not gonna throw us off the cliff and expect us to fight Nevermores solo with our bare hands."

Weiss looked like she was struggling to come up with an answer. Blake was keeping quiet, awkwardly looking around but content with letting Ruby control the flow of the conversation. In Ruby's opinion, this was honestly kinda reflecting badly on Blake's part. That might be why Weiss is complaining so much.

Eventually, Weiss finally came up with a reply. "I just believe that they should elect the most qualified individual to the task."

Ugh, this again? Okay, Ruby was starting to get annoyed with her elitist attitude.

...is that how you say it? No, don't lose focus Ruby. Trying to convince Weiss not to be stubborn here.

"Weiss, you may believe that you're the most qualified out of all of us. But honestly, you're as equally qualified as Yang is." Seeing her horrified expression, Ruby continued before Weiss could reply. "Did you know that I graduated the same year as Yang? I'm a fifteen-year-old Signal graduate, meaning that to others I'm seen as a sort of prodigy. That means that I'm one of the youngest students currently attending Beacon. Some would argue that I'm not qualified to be here because of my age."

The two girls were paying attention to Ruby, making Ruby slightly nervous with the attention.

"Even though I graduated two years early, I honestly think Yang is the prodigy. She was the valedictorian of her year when she graduated. She's loads better than me in a fight. And even you have to agree that she's probably the most extroverted person in the entire school. I bet that if you ask around who between the two of you would make a better leader, most would answer Yang."

Heh, heh. The look on Weiss's face is amazing. And why are you looking so incredulous Blake? Are you questioning Yang's academic ability or are you just surprised at how eloquent I can be.

I can be eloquent! I just suffer from a few social scenarios.

"Qualifications are nice and all, but it doesn't matter once we step into Beacon. Many Huntsman and Huntresses excel without having any prior achievements." Weiss still looked a bit unconvinced, so Ruby changed her approach. "Did you know that Ren and Nora never went to a proper Huntsman Training Academy? We talked about it in class today, and they told me that they were invited to Beacon by taking an early application test. The two of them were excused of a lot of the theoretical knowledge most students needed to test in. So some can argue that the two of them aren't qualified enough to be students either. However, despite their lack of academic background, I would choose either of them to be a leader over Pyrrha."

"What?! But Pyrrha graduated top of her class at Sanctum! She's won the Mistral Region Tournaments four years in a row!"

"And she's a total wallflower." The unexpected insult from Ruby threw Weiss off. She probably expected that to come from someone like Yang. "It's a bit harsh, but it's true. Pyrrha may be an awesome fighter, but I barely heard her speak to anyone since she came to Beacon. I dunno why, but she's super shy and meek around everyone."

"T-That..." Weiss was struggling to speak.

"Jaune was elected leader instead of the others on his team. And that was because he was the first one to take command when the four of them fought against the Death Stalker. I don't know why Blake was picked over the three of us, but Ozpin must've seen something in her that made him make that decision."

Blake! Don't try to hide in the corner now, you're making yourself look bad. Even Weiss was looking at Blake questioningly.

Ugh, Ruby didn't know what else to say. If Weiss wasn't convinced by now, then it's hopeless. "Why not give her a chance. It's literally the first week of school. Let Blake have a chance to prove herself first before you complain again."

Weiss was silent as she looked at Blake. She looked like she was about to say something before she sighed and instead decided to make peace with Blake.

"Fine. I guess it was stupid to complain when we haven't seen you at least attempt yet. It's fine if you're the team leader instead. I'll... try not to argue too much from now on."

"I-It's fine. Thanks."

Yes, the ancient and most venerable art of friendship bringing has succeeded yet again. Now all Blake has to do is make sure she does her best from now on to Weiss's approval.

"Don't worry, Blake. It sounds like you're not certain that you're fit for the job. So I have an idea!"

"Huh?"

"We'll help you become the bestest leader ever. As your partner, we'll make sure to give you tips and advice whenever we can."

Weiss smiled. "Hmph, that sounds reasonable. I would gladly sacrifice my time to aide you in improving yourself."

Blake's face started to pale for some reason. "W-Wait..."

"Oh! Think we can get Yang to help us too?"

"But of course. This is a team matter, thus the entire team will be there to help Blake improve as not just a leader, but also as a Huntress."

Blake was waving her hands for some reason. "N-No. You really don't h-have to..."

"Ooh! Think we can get Team Avalon to join us?"

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask. We can ask Pyrrha to have some training sessions with Blake. As the leader of Team Bravery, it should be expected that Blake should meet a certain standard in combat skill."

"While Pyrrha can help her with fighting, I can help her with her studies. I think you mentioned it once that you also tested in instead of going to a Huntsman school, right Blake?"

"N-No, but... yes, I said that. But..." Blake kept stuttering for some reason.

"Cool! We can have study sessions together and help you catch up on parts of the curriculum that you don't know."

"Hmph. I believe that I can at least help in this manner at the very least."

"Maybe we can help her together!"

"I don't see why not."

"Awesome! You hear that, Blake? Weiss and I will help you lots with all the training and studying we're gonna plan together. The two of us will do our best to help you become the best! Aren't you excited?!"

Blake? Why do you have that look of resignation to you?

Blake?

Blake!?

}-{

The room was tense with both sides ready to duke it out at any moment. The entire bar was empty of its usual customers and was instead filled with a different kind of company tonight.

Masked White Fang grunts littered the premises. No one has yet to draw a weapon, but Neo wasn't the only one who looked like they were ready to stab someone.

Roman watched as Junior growled at one particular White Fang grunt who accidentally bumped into a glass cup, shattering it onto the floor. The grunt sneered but didn't seem to be the first one to escalate things. Wisely, the grunt moved back and out of sight from Junior.

And throughout all of this, the young woman dressed in red sitting across from him sipped her tea.

"This is quite nice. I'm quite surprised that the infamous Roman Torchwick is skilled at brewing a good cup of tea."

"Eh, you meet with a few people with their quirks. You learn a few tricks to handle them."

Roman had fond memories of Rin asking him to brew a cup of tea while she realigned dislocated shoulders and healed large gashes of the men he borrowed from Junior. Neo always found it amusing how Rin could drink amongst blood-soaked bandages and injured men without batting an eye.

But back to facing the scary fire lady that his Doctor's been warning him about.

"So, what can we do for you Ms. Fall?"

"Inpatient, are we?" The woman smirked and took another sip of her tea, to Roman's annoyance. Taking her time, she set the cup onto the table before she spoke. "But I suppose we should get to the matter at hand."

She gestured to the grunts around her. "I represent a... large company that is willing to enter a working relationship with you and your men."

"Ah," and it was obvious who she was referring to. "And they wouldn't happen to mind my... lack of certain traits?"

"They are willing to overlook them for the upcoming job." She chuckled while placing a hand on her chest. "After all, it would be a bit weird for them to mind if they're willing to work with someone like me."

So she's human after all. Roman did wonder a while ago if she was just a Faunus with less obvious traits. But if the White Fang are willing to work with humans...

"What exactly is this job?" he asked. "I'm guessing it's something related to my unique skill set if you're here of all places."

"Not particularly," and the woman smiled dangerously. "It is always possible for us to hire someone else more willing to cooperate."

Junior shuffled in place a bit, and his men behind him nervously looked at the White Fang grunts across from them. Ugh, Roman hated these little power plays. What happened to men threatening each other outright while making outrageous demands that nobody listens too? Hidden wordplay and subtle meanings aren't really his cup of tea, even if he did have to get used to them in his career.

But at least he's working with something familiar. Death threats are a dime in a dozen.

"Then why aren't you talking to them instead of my handsome old self?"

The woman continued to smile. "Why, Roman. It's because I see value in your talents that I wish to come to you first with our proposition. After all, this not needs to be just a simple contract. Work with us for a while and it might become a business relationship."

"Oh? How so?" Of course, Roman wasn't really interested. The Unwritten Rules of the underworld were something that most people understood in Vale. Don't escalate by involving your activities with the civilians. Keep it contained and out of sight, and you can get away with most of anything.

Terrorists were bad news for everyone, even the criminals. And make no mistake, the White Fang are terrorists even if they've been pretty tame in Vale lately. Either they succeeded in whatever plan they have and fuck everyone over, or they mess up and get everyone involved with them caught by the authorities. And the authorities won't be holding back if they're involved with terrorists.

After all, it was in the name itself. Terrorists spread fear, and fear draws in Grimm. That, and politicians. The authorities will clamp down hard on anyone that can risk bringing in Grimm to the city, and that makes them willing to overlook those who aren't as bad.

That's why Roman got away with most of everything he did. That's how he was able to work with his flamboyant flair without getting caught by the pigs or Huntsmen. In the eye of the public, he's just a simple, if slightly show-off, thief. Not someone who warrants a full Huntsmen team after him like other murderers or criminals.

Cinder hummed. "Well, if you're intere—"

The sound of gunfire cut off her words, alarming everyone into a frenzy as they wondered what was going on. Everyone started to brandish their weapons at each other before Cinder spoke in a commanding voice.

"Stop!" Gesturing to one of her men, she questioned him when he got close. "Our men outside, see what's causing them to make a fuss."

"Yes, Ma'am." Nodding to a few people near him, the White Fang grunts moved out. Junior spoke to his own men to move out, but Roman knew that they weren't gonna be harmed. Either this was an unexpected raid by the police, or this was Rin doing something.

"Looks like some of your companions drew someone's attention."

"Unfortunate," Cinder rose from her seat and began to make her way out. "It seems that we'll have to be moving this meeting to another time."

"Yeah, sounds rough. But I have a better idea." Raising his cane, he pointed the barrel at the end towards Cinder's direction.

Her eyes narrowed.

"So this is something to do with you, Torchwick." Her arms began to glow in strange patterns. "Then I believe that we have nothing else to speak of."

Heh, no more first name basis huh?

"Why not? There are tons of things we can talk about. After all, I do make for a wonderful distraction."

Cinder's eyes widened, but it was too late.

She never saw the blow coming.

* * *

**So Saturday night, I was working on the chapter when this awesome thunderstorm suddenly started. This was the first time I've seen so many flashes of lightning or thunder or whatever it's called. There was this one particularly bright flash of thunder that caused a blackout to the whole house, which made me lose access to the internet except for my phone (which was only at 7%). **

**So, with an unfinished chapter and wifi being down for most of the day, I'm posting this on Monday instead. And since I missed my promised deadline, I'll make up for it by posting another chapter on Wednesday. I might even make this a reoccurring deal. Every time I miss a chapter, I make up for it in the next few days.**

**The argument about Weiss being a leader was something that played out differently in several RWBY fanfics I read. Some argued that she didn't have the right personality. Others argued that leadership positions were given to inexperienced people to let them grow into the role. I always liked how different writers took it differently depending on the flow of the story. It was kinda weird trying to depict Ruby as the person who knocked sense into other people. The line between childish and wise was hard to balance with.**

**And finally, Cinder is here negotiating with the Vale criminal underworld. And Roman is not willing to just roll over and show his belly. So revolt! Down with the oppressor, and fight back at those who wish to take away your freedom!**

**The next chapter will be a battle with Rin showing off a few of her skills. My experience with writing fight scenes is questionable at best, so wish me luck.**


	18. Unforeseen Outcome

**A.N. (8/19/20) - Another chapter, if slightly shorter than usual! Also, make sure to read the author's note at the bottom since I have some kinda important news.**

* * *

Chapter 18 - Unforeseen Outcome

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

"How do I look?" Rin asked her invisible Servant.

_"You look like not Rin," _she replied through their bond. Although phrased awkwardly, that was exactly what Rin was going for.

Rin had mixed a modicum of makeup, illusion magecraft, and a few other tricks to disguise herself to look like someone else. Wearing a wig cap to keep her tied hair in, she had a black wig covering her head to change it's length to a boy's cut. Her clothes changed from her usual red top and black bottoms to a full black suit with a red tie just like what Junior's men wore. Her clothes were filled with various padding, changing her svelte bodyline to a more muscular build fitting that of a male. Her shoes had changed to a bland black color that had shoe pads that increased her height by around three inches. Black gloves covered her hands, with one hiding her Command Seals on her right hand.

Yes, Rin had completed the transformation spell known as crossdressing.

Admittingly, she could've just created an illusion using magecraft. But this was more fun this way. If anyone else asks, her excuse is that she didn't want to enter a potentially hostile situation without peak od reserves.

_"Still, somehow your appearance seems... familiar."_

The unkempt short black hair. The blue eyes. Ana had no idea why this appearance invoked such strange feelings, but Rin had a funny feeling why. Rin hadn't just randomly dressed as some random male.

For her appearance was based on the character Ritsuka Fujimaru himself. Not that Ana was aware of who that was.

"Okay, let's do this." Placing the bowler hat and glasses on to complete the full uniform, she started to walk down the ramp of the Bullhead.

Rin got off the Bullhead and made her way to the club, Ana trailing behind her in her Astral Form. As far as she knew, there was no possible means for anyone to detect a Servant in their Astral Form, save for some esoteric magical mean unique to Remnant that Rin wouldn't be aware of.

And while it was enjoyable acting like a male again, there was work to be done.

She tried calling Roman for a while now but didn't receive a reply. Same for when she tried Neo, Junior, the Malchietes, a couple of other guys that worked for Junior, and even Mrs. Hale who lived across the street from the club didn't pick up her home phone.

Now it is important to note that Beacon is not within the city limits of Vale, but rather on the outskirts in the middle of the Emerald Forest. Thus, when the Bullhead landed in Vale, it landed closest to the commercial district of Vale. Junior's Club was located in the industrial district, but it bordered the commercial district. Even taking public transportation, it took about ten minutes for Rin to reach the road leading to the club. With the time it took for the Bullhead to get here as well as the time Rin took to prepare, it was almost half an hour since Roman had called her.

So it was an annoyed and slightly pissed Rin that found herself looking at the blockade preventing her from entering the street leading to Junior's Club.

A man was leaning against a wall nearby and noticed her. Now normally, Rin wasn't a racist. But she couldn't help but notice the fact that the man was a Faunus. Nor did she miss the large dagger strapped to his belt.

"Sorry, this road is blocked up for today." The man waved his hands to tell Rin off. "You'll have to come back another day."

"Can't you let me pass," Rin asked in an annoyed tone, slightly changing the tone to sound like a guy. "I have to get to work. I'm already late as it is."

"Sorry, man. We're doing some construction work right now."

The unexpected sounds of bullets rang in the air, coming from the street being blocked off.

"...very engaging construction work."

"Uh-huh." Rin gave him a very unimpressed look. Okay, so very likely that this was a White Fang plainclothes guard. And looks like there's already trouble going on past here. Great.

"Look, I work with Roman and Junior. We both know what's going on on the other side of this blockade." Not really, since Rin's kinda out of the loop at the moment. "Just let me pass so I can meet up with them."

"Tough luck Human," the man sneered as he said that. "The White Fang's working out a deal with your bosses right now. I don't think they'd mind if they miss another one of their lackeys."

Rin sighed and started to crack her knuckles. "Suit yourself."

The school of Yang did teach her a thing or two on dealing with grunts.

Twenty-two seconds later, Rin tossed an unconscious body into a nearby dumpster and forced her way through. Ana kept watching for any other White Fang guards while Rin finally came upon the building in question.

For some reason, several White Fang grunts littered the area near the entrance. All of them were unconscious and lying around with a few bruises and injuries that matched those who just had their Aura depleted.

"Huh, did they start fighting already?"

Judging by the sound of gunfire a while ago, it must have been a pretty quick fight. There were signs of a large bladed weapon being used based on the damage to the surroundings. Strange, since that kind of damage didn't really seem like any of Junior's men could've caused this.

The door suddenly opened and a large group of White Fang members poured out of it. All of them suddenly stopped as they caught sight of the scene before them. Rin was suddenly aware of what this must've looked like. Her, disguised as a mafioso, amidst a bunch of unconscious White Fang grunts.

"The humans betrayed us!"

"He took out the guards!"

Suddenly drawing their weapons, all of them started to point their guns at Rin, who was panicking at the sudden situation.

"W-Wait, stop!" Rin cried out. "T-This wasn't me! I only knocked out one of you guys."

In hindsight, that was probably the worst thing to say in this situation. Rin made a mental note never to subscribe to the school of Yang again.

"Kill him!"

As they were about to attack, another group of men started to pour out of the entrance. This time, they were some of Junior's men. The White Fang grunts moved and were now pointing their weapons their way instead.

"Look! His friends are here. Kill them too!"

"What the heck is going on!"

Ignoring the mafioso who asked that, the White Fang opened fire on Junior's men who all started to panic and take cover behind whatever they could. Immediately after finding cover, a couple of Junior's men pulled out their own guns and started firing back. Suddenly the entire street turned into a battlefield of bullets with both sides trying to move around each other.

Rin took the opportunity to enter the building while the others were distracted. A few bullets scraped past her, but luckily she reinforced her uniform to protect her from the worst of it.

"Die! Human scum."

"Eat shit, Faunus trash!"

Rin sweatdropped as she heard the ensuing fight behind her. While she was curious why the White Fang guards were taken out, she had more important things to do.

}-{

The sound of gunfire grew quieter as she made her way into the bar. It made sense since Rin knew that there was at least some level of soundproofing in the walls for when the music got too loud. But not to the extent that the inhabitants couldn't hear the sounds of fighting outside, so it was possible that everyone inside the building knew that trouble was brewing.

Rin opened another door and saw a large group of people gathered around in the middle of the room. It was a bit hard to see through the men lingering at the perimeter, so Rin moved closer.

A few people gave her a glance or two, but for the most part, they ignored her. Everyone was brandishing weapons at each other and were getting ready for a fight. Walking through a gap, she finally saw Roman sitting down with Junior and Neo standing nearby. Junior had his weapon ready to deploy while Neo was playfully tapping her parasol on the ground next to her.

Finally, she looked to who Roman was talking to. Sucking in her breath, she saw the woman herself.

Cinder Fall. The proof that Vale was in danger, and the agent of the Queen of Grimm herself.

"—ving this meeting to another time." Cinder got up from her seat as Rin caught those last few words. Quickly looking to Roman, she made a few frantic signs to draw his attention.

Roman looked to her and didn't notice at first until Rin raised her glasses. His eyes widened slightly but calmed down quickly as his face sported a smirk.

"Yeah, sounds rough." He gave her a quick wink before turning his attention to Cinder. "But I have a better idea."

_'Hurry up! Do your thing.'_ Was the unspoken message he sent her.

Erasing the noise of her body moving with a simple spell, Rin started to slowly walk behind where Cinder was. Another mental interference spell made it hard for the White Fang guards around her to notice her. Not quite useful in battle, but for simple minds, it worked enough as a perception filter to hide her presence from them.

"So this is something to do with you, Torchwick." Uh oh, gotta make this quick. Cinder's arms began to glow. "Then I believe that we have nothing else to speak of."

Alright, I'm directly behind her now. Once I make my move, the spell will wear off and everyone will notice me. So I gotta make this one attack count.

I can't use anything that can tie me back to my identity. Roman knows to keep quiet, but if the White Fang or even Cinder get a hint at who I really am. Well, Tukson still isn't quite safe yet after all.

So her options were limited. She couldn't use her Jewel Magecraft. A sword won't do her good at the moment. But there is one option she has.

Rin kept her cards close to her chest. Throughout her years at Signal, she rarely showed others the true might of her abilities. At most, she's showed off her Reinforcement and her affinity with Dust casting. Except for that one time she threatened Tukson a few years ago, she's never shown anyone her Gandr spell.

The Gandr spell is actually a curse that affects the target's physical health, causing paralysis or vomiting. The simple version is known as a Gandr Shot. A Gandr with excess Magical Energy concentrated into it becomes capable of causing physical damage and is called a Finn Shot. Normally, Rin's Finn Shot was only as strong as a good bullet. But there were ways to go around that.

_"Ana, don't do anything yet. But stand by in case things go wrong."_

_"Alright," _as she said that, Ana summoned her scythe to her side. Knowing that Ana would help her in case Rin messed up, she began to concentrate.

Rin slowly raised her hand and discretely pointed it towards Cinder's back. The glove in her hand started to slightly glow since it also acted as a simple Amplifier Mystic Code to increase the power of her spells. Her arm slowly started to glow as her Magic Crest began to stabilize and improve her spell. Focusing the energy and condensing it into a single powerful strike, Rin estimated that the spell's output would equal to a high C or low B Rank attack.

A black and red orb of energy formed in front of her hand and Roman saw it. Smirking, he spoke to Cinder. "Why not? There are tons of things we can talk about. After all, I do make for a wonderful distraction." Before Cinder could react, Rin fired the spell point blank straight into Cinder's back.

The effects were immediate.

Cinder's body flew in the air and the woman's Aura was almost completely disrupted. Roman and the men behind him quickly moved out of the way as Cinder's body flew past them. As Cinder's body landed, the woman tried to get up only to begin to vomit all over the floor uncontrollably.

For a moment, Rin was shocked. That's it? Was that all it took? Only one spell?

Then Rin thought about it. No one on Remnant except for Ozpin and Salem had any knowledge on Magic. So no one would know how to resist the effects of Prana in their body. Without any Magic Resistance, and the fact that Rin not only took the time to prepare her attack but was also boosted by the fact that there were so few magic-users drawing their powers from the Root.

Also, it might have to do with the fact that Amber's still alive, making it clear that Cinder wasn't a half-maiden. Who knows?

Quickly, Rin vaulted over Roman's seat to the shock of everyone else and ran towards Cinder who was still trying to recover from the attack. The sounds of people shouting and moving didn't distract her as Rin honed in on her target.

"W-Wha?" Grabbing Cinder's head and kneeling down to her height, Rin immediately stared into Cinder's eyes and started to utilize hypnosis on her. Cinder's mind began to resist, but Rin slowly blew past her mental barriers and slowly started to subjugate her mind. Once she got far enough, Rin immediately commanded Cinder to _S__LEEP_.

Sighing, she got up from her kneeling position and looked around her. Junior's men were pretty competent because while Rin was taking control of Cinder's mind, Roman and everyone else had managed to either take out the White Fang or chased them out of the club.

"We won." Holy cow, it's still a bit unbelievable how much of a success this was. Even Ana was a bit shocked at how easy this was. Rin was honestly expecting to have to reveal Ana's identity if needed to fight against Cinder and her goons. Actually, now that she thought about it, where are Emerald and Mercury? Or for that matter, where's Adam?

With the White Fang and Cinder together, there's no way she hasn't met Adam yet. Why would he lend her men to meet with a human criminal? Actually, how did they even team up in the first place? In the show, Cinder forced him to work with her after demonstrating her half-Maiden powers. But Amber's still alive, Ozpin confirmed that. Even if her location is currently unknown to Rin, it's not possible for Cinder to have killed her in the past week and afterwords form a partnership with the White Fang.

Ugh, this is making her head hurt.

"Wow, didn't expect that?" Roman came to stand next to her. "You know she killed a couple of our guys earlier today? The damn bitch gutted them like fish before she made us have this meeting with her. That's kinda why we didn't want to try anything yet. But damn," he whistled. "Guess she wasn't so scary after all."

"I'm shocked myself," Rin honestly replied. "Did she come with anyone else? Other than the White Fang of course."

"Nope. Just her and the morons. Thought she was supposed to have an entourage or something."

"Same. Guess we're just lucky." Really lucky.

Roman laughed at that. "Right, lucky. Can't wait for the other shoe to drop. Nice look by the way. But what's with the outfit though?"

"I'm not exactly eager for the White Fang to know my identity."

"Huh?" After Rin gave him a look, he finally got it. "Oh, yeah. Your old man, huh? Gotcha. But wow, it sure does work on you. Even changed your voice. If you hid amongst Junior's men, I probably wouldn't have spotted you out from amongst them."

Rin smirked. "Now you're just flattering me."

"Too obvious?" Rin gave a quick laugh at that. "So what now?"

"I guess we clean up. I'll get rid of her discreetly, make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble." Maybe she could keep her in some kind of prison? Ozpin wasn't using his underground vault after all.

"Gotcha. Do you want me to—"

And of course, that was when someone snuck up from behind them to attack them.

* * *

**So I have a bit of important news that needs to be said. School is starting soon and that means I'll have less time to write compared to the greatness that is summer break. Thus, it is to my regret that I have to inform you that there may be a change in my posting schedule soon.**

**I'm not sure when, but eventually, I'll have to switch back to a bi-weekly posting schedule. I'm not a writer that can keep up this kind of pace without losing focus on my academic career. So yeah, just a fair warning now.**

**But back to the chapter. I'm sure some of you are wondering where Emerald, Mercury, and Adam are. Well, let's just say they're busy with another mission. One more inclined with the White Fang's wishes instead of just Cinder's. Honestly, I had more written out for this chapter, but I realized that the part I cut off made a better opening than an ending. So sorry, but you'll have to wait a few days for it to come out.**

**Now, who is this mystery assailant? Is it someone from the White Fang? Emerald or Mercury? Another one of Salem's agents? Or maybe even Neo on an ice cream diet rebelling against Roman. I don't know why I'm ending the chapter like a cartoon episode, but find out the next chapter in... Magus of Dust.**


	19. Misunderstanding

**A.N. (8/23/20) - There were many ways I could've taken this chapter. Honestly, I'm not 100% happy with this chapter, but it's good enough I guess.**

* * *

Chapter 19 - Misunderstanding

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

"Move!" Rin didn't bother with seeing if Roman reacted as she pulled Crocea Mors out of its sheath and blocked the attack. The clash between their weapons let loose dozens of sparks flying in the air, and Rin gritted her teeth as she pushed the attacker back.

The attacker swung at her from a different direction with his giant ax. Rin pulled the sheath of Crocea Mors and used it to block the attack.

"Tsk," the attacker jumped backward for a moment. Before Rin could take the chance to catch her breath, the attacker kicked her in the stomach with a great amount of force.

"Guh," Rin's feet dragged across the ground as the pain started to spread.

_"Rin! Are you okay?!"_ Ana's voice sounded worried.

_"I'm fine Ana. Don't worry about me, just make sure to keep an eye on Cinder."_

_"But—"_

_"No, forget about me! If she escapes, then it'll take forever before we get another chance."_ Making up her mind, Rin yelled out, "ROMAN!"

Rin saw him through the corner of her eye appear. Rin risked looking in his direction for a second.

"You okay kid?" The man was eyeing the enemy warily, his cane Melodic Cudgel in his hand. Neo was next to him with her parasol ready and Junior with his strange missile launcher gun deployed. Huh, looks like Roman got help.

"Get her out of here! I'll hold off this guy while you bring her to whatever hole you can throw her in."

The attacker snarled and dashed forward, but Rin blocked his way. Another clash of weapons and sparks met them. "Go!"

"Way ahead of ya boss. See ya later." Nodding to Neo, the girl bowed as their group suddenly exploded into glass shards. From her bond, Rin could feel that Ana was slowly moving away from her, hopefully following Neo. The attacker watched in frustration as the others disappeared.

"Who are you?!" Rin asked, keeping her voice deep and intimidating. Rin's mind quickly ran over the possible candidates of who this could be.

The attacker was dressed in a White Fang outfit, complete with mask and uniform. That didn't really say much except that Rin couldn't tell who was attacking her. It was still possible to guess from the build that the attacker was a man though, which limited the possibilities greatly.

Then again, there's the rare possibility that he was cross-dressing too.

Still, his frame wasn't bulky enough to be Reinhart. Not crazy enough to be Tyrian either. And too aggressive to be Watts.

The man didn't answer as he pulled back his ax to take another swing at her. It was one of those slightly large axes that could work with one hand or two. Rin blocked the swing by deflecting it at an angle with Crocea Mors, taking the chance to use the sheath as a club to strike the man.

The move barely did anything, as the man seemed to ignore the attack. Rin may have conditioned herself with a little Huntsman training, but this man put her efforts to shame. Rin could tell that this man was at least Huntsman level - and not one of the weak ones.

'Dammit, I'm not used to Jaune's sword.' The weapon Rin primarily trained in was a sword that was a lot smaller than Jaune's weapon. Even then, Rin honestly wasn't that skilled in swords anyways.

Jumping backward, Rin held her hand forward with her palm facing sideways. Black and red energy gathered before her as she rapidly fired multiple Finn Shots at the enemy.

An unbelievable counter occurred as the man managed to _knock_ away the balls of energy headed towards him with his weapon. The deflected spells flew off randomly and instead crashed into the surrounding furniture, causing explosions and large amounts of property damage. The man's masked covered most of his face, but the uncovered portion showed that the man was smirking.

"Heh, nice try. Damn, didn't expect one of Junior's men to be so good. Still can't believe you managed to get away with the fire bitch." said the man. Rin frowned. Why did that voice sound so famili—

Her eyes widened.

"Qrow?! Is that you?"

The man - Qrow - frowned at her words. "Do I know you?"

"It's me, Rin." Ripping off the wig on her head, her hair fell down around her shoulders to the shock of Qrow. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Wait, Rin?! You're working with Torchwick?" Rin continued to stare at him while Qrow tried to process the situation. "Wait, that means you're the one who took out Cinder. How did—"

"Stop!" Rin yelled out, Qrow's mouth shutting up. "Explain, now!"

Qrow looked at her with a bit of confusion on his face but eventually began to explain.

}-{

**~One Hour Ago~**

Qrow had a simple mission.

_"Keep an eye on Cinder Fall."_

Simple enough, easy to understand.

_'Yeah, sure thing Ozpin. Not like you're telling me what she looks like or how the hell I'm gonna find her. Great, just give me another vague mission why don't you.'_ Honestly, the man could've waited till he took a break. After all, he had just finished delivering Amber to Atlas where James took her into his custody - getting the entire Ace Ops on guard duty - when he received the message from the big man himself.

He knew who Cinder Fall was of course. But all he knew about her was that she was one of Salem's agents and that she was a ravenette dressed in red. Not exactly a detailed description for him to go off of.

Of course, that was when he accidentally found himself involved in some kind of White Fang operation. Funny thing really, since Qrow wasn't exactly planning to do so.

See, the thing about working as a sort of secret agent is that he had contacts. And the best contacts were always those you met with daily.

Thus, Qrow often got a lot of info by visiting Junior's Club once in a while. And it helped that the man was a mean bartender himself. It was inevitable that upon his return to Vale, he would fly towards the man's bar. Drinking on the job came hand-in-hand when working with Junior.

So imagine his surprise when he landed on a nearby roof near the club and noticed a large group of White Fang storming into the bar.

"Huh? What d'ya know, looks like things aren't going so well for the gang. What'd they do, piss off a Faunus customer?"

Qrow chuckled for a bit before he finally noted how many weapons they were carrying. And the fact that they were cordoning off the streets. And the fact that most of them were wearing masks. And the fact that these particular members didn't look like the usual pissy protestors that Tukson usually dealt with.

"Aw shit, they're the real deal." Cursing a bit, Qrow shifted to his crow form again and flew closer. Seriously, Semblance? Taking away his drinking time as well? Can you be any crueler?

But getting back to serious matters, what exactly was a platoon of White Fang grunts raiding Junior's Club for? He didn't know what exactly they were planning, but if they were gonna don on full terrorist gear, then that's exactly how he's gonna be treating them.

Hiding near them, he eavesdropped on a pair of two grunts talking to each other.

"We've secured the area. Now we just need to wait for the humans to come to finish the deal."

The other grunted. "I don't get it. Why the hell are we even listening to them?"

"Orders from up high. Apparently the two of them can help further the cause."

"Really? Those two?"

"Hey, I know they don't look like much. But you should've seen what they did when the first appeared."

_'Come on, stop playing the pronoun game,'_ Qrow thought with a little frustration.

"Still doesn't make sense. S'not like we can just pick a Faunus rep to hire the human criminals."

"Yeah, but Torchwick's apparently pretty picky with his customers."

The second guy blinked. "He's racist?"

The first guy waved his hand in denial. "Nah, that's not what I meant. The guy only trusts a few offers, don't take jobs from those he thinks is shady. It's why he's hard to hire."

The other masked Faunus continued to grumble. "Still irks the hell out of me that we're gonna be working with Torchwick of all people."

Torchwick, huh? That's... pretty much exactly as Rin said would happen. So Salem really is on the move. Not like he didn't believe the squirt before, but now that he saw some actual proof. Or at least, the hint of proof.

On the plus side, this means that Cinder's probably involved in this. Score! Damn, his luck is turning up pretty good today.

...he did not just think that. Argh! Better act before his natural luck kicks in.

Shifting to his human form, he jumped the nearest White Fang.

"Hey, what th—"

Qrow punched him hard and knocked him unconscious. Turning to speak to the other grunt, he quipped. "Sup, fellas. Getting ready for a fun night out? I'm also here for the club."

"Huntsman! Kill him."

And that's what he gets for being cocky. Great, now the whole group's after him.

"Woah, didn't know there was a masked convention around here." Dodging a few bullets, he dashed towards the stockier of the grunts and slashed at them. Aura check, great. High probability that everyone else has Aura then. Still, better use the flat of the blade when possible. After all, it's not like he's going for the kill here.

Qrow dodged another bullet and quickly charged in to knock out the shooter. Breaking the grunt's gun with his hands, he sighed. "You know, you guys should really invest in something better. I hear there's a sale down the street next to the Dust shop."

The lead Faunus ignored him. "Keep firing!"

Okay, the gunfire's getting pretty loud. Better wrap this up before anyone else notices. Moving to another shooter, Qrow kicked him, knocking him out, and used him to propel himself and speed towards another grunt. To be fair to the grunt, he managed to draw his sword out and slashed at Qrow before he was knocked out.

Drawing his blade over his back, he blocked a couple of shots. "How exactly did you guys think this was gonna end? You're not exactly Huntsman material. Heck, my baby niece can probably take you all on by herself. Then again, that's not saying much."

"Kill the Huntsman."

"If I had a Lien for every time I heard that..." Wow, that's a depressingly high number. He could probably buy a new Scroll with that kind of dough. Qrow really needed to stop getting into these situations. As the remaining grunts charged for him, Qrow simply jumped into the air and waited for everyone to crash into each other.

Falling to the ground, Qrow thumped the remaining grunts all on the head with the flat of his blade, knocking them all out. Landing next to the bodies with a graceful landing, Qrow bowed to an invisible audience.

"Thank you, thank you. I teach lessons every weekday. Literally, in my case."

One of the bodies groaned and Qrow kicked the guy's head to knock him out.

"Now, let's see what's going on inside why don't we." Going to the door, Qrow grabbed the handle and gave it a twist. "...shit, the door's locked. Hey, any of you idiots got the key?!"

Obviously, nobody answered him. Great, now he's got to search the bodies if he wants to get inside. And seeing how may bodies there are...

Qrow looked up and a thought came to him. Shifting to his bird form, Qrow flew up to Junior's roof and found an open vent that hopefully leads to inside.

"Cawww~" Slipping into the opening, Qrow moved in.

It took Qrow several minutes to navigate the maze-like area, and several more once Qrow got into a couple of detours. Pretty sure he's also found a way to sneak into the girl's restroom. Make a note of that later, never know when that kinda info's gonna be useful. Oh hey, look! There's a 'call me' graffiti scribble. Better memorize that number too.

Okay, he's lost. Where the heck is everyone?

Dropping into another room, Qrow found a lone White Fang grunt playing around on his Scroll. Contemplating his next course of action, Qrow quickly shifted to his human form.

A hand suddenly covered the grunt's mouth, muffling his screams. Choking the ambushed grunt and cutting off his air supply, Qrow whispered into the man's ear. "Ssssshhh, sleep."

Hey, he saw someone do that before in a movie. Give him a break.

Lowering the unconscious man to the floor, Qrow stripped him of his shirt and mask and donned it onto himself. Grimacing for one moment, Qrow took a look at his weapon and sighed.

"You're a little bit obvious compared to normal weapons." Qrow hid his sword behind a couple of crates and picked up the White Fang grunt's own weapon. "Sorry, bud. But I'll come back for you later."

Now, totally disguised as just another grunt, Qrow walked brazenly around the club and found where everyone else was.

Let's just sneak in where everyone is. Qrow walked to where the rest of the White Fang were and stood around and waited for something to happen.

Ugh, now that he's this close to her, Qrow could see that Cinder - at least Qrow assumed so, based on the description he was given - was quite the scary one. Sure, she's pretty. But definitely dangerous. Even Roman's nervous dealing with her, even if the man has a good enough facade to fool most others.

Let's not do anything drastic for now. Just watch and see what she's planning with the criminals of Vale.

}-{

Really, his luck was something today.

Qrow hid behind a corner and quickly changed to his bird form again. The suited goon chasing him passed him down the hallway, and Qrow let out a sigh of relief.

Damn, that trick of his is gonna get old eventually. Luckily, his clothes shifted along with him. Otherwise, the goon might've noticed the random pile of clothes on the ground.

That still made Qrow confused how that worked, even if the answer was probably magic bullshit.

Qrow sneaked back into the room and watched as the rest of Junior's goons chased after the remains of the White Fang.

Who would've thought that Cinder would actually fail in negotiations with Roman? And then Qrow had the satisfaction of watching her get taken out in one shot by some random nobody with a weird Semblance or something.

That's the thing with Aura. Even if they're a total lackey, anyone can have a Remnant-shaking Semblance if the odds are in their favor. That's why you can't underestimate anyone, less they manage to surprise you.

But even though Qrow knew that it was still kinda surprising that Junior had someone in his ranks with an ability that powerful.

Qrow looked at the unconscious body of the red-dressed woman. A feeling of disgust passed him momentarily. This was the woman who wanted to kill Amber. And someone who willingly allied herself to the Queen of the Grimm. And according to Rin, someone who would have caused the downfall of Vale.

Somehow, things were going in their favor and it looks like things probably won't go down that route anymore. But as long as she's loose, the possibility is still there. And there's still her little friends out there.

No, she needs to be taken to Ozpin.

Roman and the guy that took out Cinder were currently talking next to her body. Moving closer to them, he quickly ducked under a table with the tablecloth hanging over the sides was able to catch their conversation.

"Now you're just flattering me."

"Too obvious?" Roman asked, getting a laugh from the other guy. "So what now?"

The man hummed and thought. "I guess we clean up. I'll get rid of her discreetly, make sure she doesn't cause any more trouble."

Shit! They're planning to kill her. While the bitch probably deserves it, we need her to tell us about the others in Vale. According to Rin, she's supposed to have two other lackeys and a sort-of partnership with Adam Taurus.

_'So we can't have her killed yet. Ozpin would want to have a word with her.'_ But how was he gonna play this? Torchwick was here, and his goons aren't something that Qrow wanted to handle while dealing with the flamboyant thief, even if they all weren't as competent as that one who took out Cinder.

Then again, it's not like he needs to defeat them. All he needs is to get Cinder out of here while she's unconscious.

Qrow quickly shifted underneath the table and grimaced as he prepared the borrowed weapon in his hand. Not exactly his preferred choice, but good enough for now.

"Gotcha. Do you want me to—"

The table exploded as Qrow charged out.

}-{

"And that's what happened," Qrow concluded.

Rin rubbed her head as it tried to digest Qrow's stupidly convoluted explanation. Seriously, what were the odds of something like that happeni— right, Semblance.

"What are you even doing here?! I thought you were supposed to be taking care of Amber! And what's with the stupid disguise."

"I moved her to Atlas just a few days ago. I've been spending the last few days tracking Cinder." He paused for a moment. "And fuck you! My disguise is perfect."

"You dressed as a White Fang grunt!"

"Hi, Pot. I'm Kettle, and I'm black!"

Rin rubbed her forehead to soothe the headache she was having. "Okay, so why the hell did you pick a fight with me?"

"You said you were gonna get rid of the body discreetly!" He raised his hands. "And you looked like one of Junior's guys. I put two and two together."

"What?" It took a moment for Rin to get it. "You thought I was gonna kill her and throw her in some river?" Rin asked incredulously. "I was just gonna take her to Ozpin, you idiot!"

He blinked at that. "So wait, this was all just one big misunderstanding?"

The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. The sounds of the ceiling light falling made them aware of the large amounts of damage the two caused around the club. Rin herself sat down on the ground, rubbing a particularly nasty bruise that just started to form.

After a while, she spoke. "Qrow, I hate your stupid Semblance."

"Me too, kid." He sighed, plopping down on the ground next to her. "Me too."

* * *

**So this was the first real long-drawn-out fight scene I've written. Previously, I mentioned that I was worried about writing action sequences because of my lack of experience in the matter. The problem is that I find describing fight scenes extremely boring in comparison to _watching_ fight scenes. That's the inherent difference between written works and visual works. Luckily, I discovered an amazing trick to avoiding describing action sequences.**

**Quips.**

**That's right, dialogue is always more interesting when you're compensating for the lack of visual entertainment. Compared to movies or even manga, a novel isn't exactly that great with action moments. Movies, manga, comics, etc are more visually appealing while still able to express a story through written content. The only way to combat that advantage is by entertaining the masses with words alone but at an equivalent enjoyable level. Thus, comedy through quips and one-liners.**

**Initially, I planned for Cinder to escape Rin's grasp so that Cinder would plan for the unexpected factor that was Rin. But honestly, there's no viable reason how Cinder could escape with a Servant keeping watch on her. She's not a Maiden, not even a half-Maiden. And her teammates aren't here with her.**

**Honestly, this whole chapter kind of got out of hand. I'm not really satisfied with how this came out, but I don't really know how to make it better. But that's what you're getting, so deal with it.**


	20. Outcome

**A.N. (9/4/20) - Sorry for the late update. Short chapter today, and an important message at the bottom.**

* * *

Chapter 20 - Outcome

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

"She's still asleep?" Roman asked.

Neo pondered for a moment, tapping a finger to her chin, before nudging the red-clad female near her feet with her foot. Well, more like a kick than a nudge, but either way the woman didn't stir. She shrugged back at him.

"Fair enough," Roman said as he collapsed on a comfy chair.

Currently, the three of them (and a hidden Ana on the behest of Rin) were hiding it out in one of Roman's safehouses. It was a small apartment in a neighborhood that wasn't as populated as the rest of the city. The apartment building belonged to Roman under a false name, and the other tenants were all people he carefully had screened.

Of course, in a city like Vale, it was ridiculously expensive to own such a large amount of living spaces. Roman didn't really get the exact details, but the guys working for him made sure to keep things up to date and out of the police's radar.

Luckily, the woman remained unconscious for the whole time they brought her here. Roman idly watched as Neo got a marker and started to draw on Cinder's face.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?"

Neo rolled her eyes at him and continued to work on the tiny rectangular mustache she was drawing above Cinder's lips.

"Right, forgot who I was talking to for a moment."

To be fair, it was amusing watching this supposedly scary powerful woman getting pranked on by Neo. Rin had warned him multiple times to watch out for this woman ever since the two of them met. The way Rin talked about her, Roman was expecting some fire demoness witch who'd burn down anything in her path without caring for the consequences.

He was kinda having trouble remembering her worries as he watched Neo drawing turd doodles on Cinder's cheeks.

"How long is she gonna stay unconscious anyways," he questioned out loud. After all, if the fire bitch was gonna wake up anytime soon, he didn't want to be in her crosshairs when she did. Come to think of it, it would probably be a good idea to restrain her right now while she's unconscious.

"Neo, can you check to see if we have any rope around?" After all, there should be some emergency tools slash supplies in case he ever needed them.

The mute eventually came back with several pairs of handcuffs and two rolls of duck tape but shook her head when asked if she found any rope.

"Hm, it's not great but I can probably work with this. Luckily the handcuffs are made to deal with Aura-enhanced individuals."

The two of them picked up Cinder's limp body and threw her onto the bed. Roman snapped the cuffs on each of Cinder's limb and connected each cuff to the metal frame of the bed.

"Hey Neo, catch." Roman threw one of the rolls of duck tape to her and the two got to work. Peeling the first tape off, the two quickly covered the red villainess and wrapped her torso and limbs to the bed.

The two stared at their work.

"...you know, now that I'm looking at it all at once."

Cinder's body must have moved while they were manhandling her because she wasn't lying perfectly straight and was in a crooked position. One side of her dress was rolling up slightly, showing a lot more thigh to Roman than he was comfortable with. The limbs were bound to the bed with vasts amounts of tape and handcuffs, but Roman was suddenly aware that it looked like something out of a Mistrillian underground porn flick.

"This... is a bit much. I'm not averse to this kind of play, but I'm kinda going for the 'roughish gentleman' persona, not creepy perverted kidnapping middle-age man."

Neo made a couple of gestures at him, agreeing with his words.

"That, and Rin would kill me if she saw me in this situation," Roman leaned in close to see if he could somehow cover her up with the bedsheets to hide her appearance. Even if it looked sexual, as long as he covered it up it'd probably be okay.

A snap and a flash warned him that something was wrong, and he turned to see a grinning Neo holding up her Scroll. Judging by how compromising he looked with his body leaning over the bound woman, Roman knew that this was only going to end in trouble.

"Neo, no!"

The shit-eating grin on her face told Roman what she thought about his warning.

"I will get rid of literally _all_ the ice cream in the city if you don't delete that picture," he warned her.

She pouted and made a few rude gestures with her free hand.

"No, Rin won't find it funny if she sees that. In fact, she'll kill me if she even takes a look at it."

Her blank eyes expressed how little she cared for the thought.

"Which admittingly doesn't really mean much to you, but come on. I thought we were partners! You and me, ruling the city together."

She waved one of her hands in dismissal and then made a few lewd gestures with both her hands, one particular one being two fingers in the shape of scissors pressing against each other repeatedly.

"You're saying you'd rather get into bed with Rin?" he asked incredulously.

She nodded cheerfully at that.

Roman was still confused. "Wait, like as in you'd rather get rid of me and switch sides, or that you'd rather seduce her?"

She stared at him slowly, before giving him a single nod.

Roman palmed his face. "Right, stupid question." He started to massage his head as he tried to think of something else to convince her. "Alright, what will it take for you to delete that photo?"

Neo smiled, and not the cute smile she usually faked, but the one that usually graced her face when Roman sent her on the messier kind of jobs. Swiping something on the screen, Neo turned the Scroll into his direction to let him see what was on it.

Roman winced. "Really? You want a vacation now of all times?!"

A happy nod was her answer.

"You know, Rin isn't gonna be happy once she finds out."

Neo smiled evilly.

}-{

"I'm really sorry for all of this," Rin bent her body forward into a deep bow, causing the man in front of her to look slightly flustered.

The damages around them weren't exactly small. Rin and Qrow didn't really care for their surroundings when they went at it against each other. Plus, even though the damage wasn't as bad as the one caused by the two, the various other damages caused by the scuffle with capturing the White Fang part made it so that it wasn't exactly looking great for the night club. It was almost a certainty that they would have to close their normal business for the day.

Junior coughed in his hand before speaking. "Er, don't worry about it. I can't exactly blame you for this."

"Send an invoice to my email anyways. I'm sure Beacon will be willing to cover the costs once I have a word with them." Rin jerked her head to where Qrow was listening. "Either that or Qrow can cover the damage costs out of pocket."

After all, wasn't he the one to provoke the White Fang presence in the first place?

Qrow looked taken aback by that. "Wait, wha—?"

"Did I say you could talk?" Rin leveled a powerful glare towards the older man.

"Shutting up now."

Rin glowered at him for another moment before turning back to Junior. "What are you gonna do with the White Fang grunts you've captured?"

"Meh, I'll just call the cops on them. Throw them in jail."

Qrow gave Junior a strange look when he said that. The idea of the local gang leader calling the police to clean up after them did seem a bit unorthodox. Rin didn't bother informing Qrow that Junior probably had a few guys in the local force specifically there to gather information or nudge things in their favor.

Rin continued to fiddle with her wig as she talked. "Qrow and I will make sure that their leader won't trouble you anymore. It might not solve the White Fang side of the equation, so watch out for the next few days."

Junior shrugged. "I doubt they'll be back to cause trouble so soon."

"I'll talk to Tukson and see what he can do. Either way, you have my number."

Rin and Qrow soon left the building, with Rin in her complete male disguise minus the hat and sunglasses. Hm, this actually felt nice to Rin. Maybe she should dress like this more often.

"So... when were you gonna tell me that you were secretly moonlighting as the boss of the local gang?"

It took Rin a moment to process what he said.

"What? Me, the boss?" Rin scoffed at that. "Please, I'm not the boss."

Qrow gave her a look. "Pretty sure Junior was just taking orders from you just now. And Roman Torchwick, if I'm remembering right."

"Well, yeah. But that doesn't make me the boss. They just listen to me cause I take care of their injuries once in a while." After all, all she does is heal their injuries to practice her Healing Magecraft. Sure, she's not exactly a normal associate of theirs. And maybe she has a higher standing in their organization with all the goons who follow her orders. Even Roman and Junior listen to her once in a while...

Qrow saw the look of realization on Rin's face and laughed out loud. "Face it, kid. You're the boss of a gang."

"W-Wha, but how?!"

"Don't ask me. I've never exactly taken over a criminal organization before." He continued to chuckle. "Taken out a couple, sure. But unlike my dear sister, I never ruled over one."

Rin tried to recall when exactly her change in standing started but found it difficult to recall. Throwing her hands in the air, she exclaimed, "I didn't even try to! I just wanted to make sure that Cinder didn't take over the underworld."

"By taking it over first?"

"Qrow!"

"Heh, you're even dressed like a mob boss." Qrow took a look at Rin's appearance again, still dressed as a male. "Speaking of which, nice work going there. Totally didn't figure out who you were until you blabbed."

"Thanks. I didn't want Cinder to know what I looked like yet, so I improvised. Speaking of which, we need to decide what to do with her."

Qrow's mood quickly changed from light-hearted to serious. "We'll have to take her to Oz."

"Agreed. I'm sure Dumbledore can call Ironwood over later to help secure Cinder, if not with an entire fleet of airships from Atlas. Still, there's always the possibility that she can escape. Either on her own or by one of her underlings."

"True. Think you got any crazy magic that can solve that?"

Rin took a moment to think. There was one thing she could use, maybe a bit different from what she remembered. "I think so."

"Good. Until Ozpin comes back from his little trip, we might need you to use that till he's back."

"Speaking of which, why is Ozpin in Mistral anyways? I thought the Lionheart case was taken care of already."

He shrugged at that. "Dunno. I just came back from Atlas, and I wasn't exactly keeping up with the local news. It's why I came to Junior's in the first place."

"Atlas?" Rin questioned.

"Oz said to drop off Amber with old Ironwood to keep her safe. The guy was happy to take her in, even if Amber herself didn't take to the idea."

"Is it safe for two Maidens to be near each other?"

Qrow wiggled his hand side to side. "Ehhh~ kinda. On one hand, you're putting all your eggs in the same basket. On the other hand, what kind of attack can take out two Maidens working together?"

"Working together? Isn't one of them an old lady?"

"You do know that I don't actually know who the Maiden at Atlas is, right?" He paused for a second as a thought passed his mind. "How old are we talking here."

Rin scoffed. "Not one in your strike zone."

The Maiden is safe in Atlas, the White Fang's plan to hire Vale criminals was foiled, and Cinder was captured. All in all, the entire day was great.

The two continued to walk back to Beacon in silence until Rin broke it.

"...you know I was holding back when we fought, right?"

"I know." Qrow was smiling as he said that.

Rin pouted. "I'm serious. If I used my Jewelcraft, I would've destroyed you."

"I know," he said in that same placating tone from before.

"Good."

* * *

**Short chapter and released outside normal post times. Hope you enjoyed anyways.**

**Okay first off, I'd like to apologize for releasing this so late. I could make an excuse and say that it was due to the large amount of homework I've recently got. But after procrastinating from Monday to Thursday, that reason doesn't really pan out.**

**I got the worst case of procrastination ever since I started writing this chapter. I just _didn't_ want to write, and it took me a while to find something I felt was good enough to put effort into writing. And even then, I only managed to write a short chapter that I completed in parts over a couple of days, unlike my usual modius of completing it in one go under a few hours.**

**Sure, the homework was a big part of why it took so long. I don't know how many of you know this already, but school just started a while ago for me. **

**I'll give you a few hints about my private life (*gasp* *shock*) and state that I'm getting into my Junior year in college, taking on the appropriate classes to complete my degree. That means I'm not gonna be spending much time writing anymore.**

**I know that this is usually the point where a lot of fanfic writers drop out of the community entirely (at least, based on what I know) so this piece of news may worry a few of you. And I can't deny that I might have to switch my concentration from writing to my schooling. Still, if it ever comes to the point where I have to focus entirely on school, I'll make an honest attempt to inform everyone if I plan to stop writing altogether.**

**But now that I've scared a few of you with that piece of bad news, here's another bit of slightly-less bad news. With the amount of work I'm piling up, I'm gonna be switching from a weekly schedule to a bi-weekly schedule. I already stated that this was a possibility, so hopefully, this isn't that much of a disappointment to some of you.**

**(Plan: Inform readers with worst news followed by slightly-better-but-still-bad news - Check)**

**This decision came about due to various reasons, one being that I'm gonna be busy next weekend and unable to write (since I usually only have a general plan and only write the majority of the chapter content the day before I post something). So yeah, the next chapter will be posted probably on September 13th if things go as planned. If not, I'll try to post any changes on my Profile page otherwise.**


	21. Questions for Rin

**A.N. (9/14/20) - I know I'm a day late, but I didn't plan my schedule that well and I had to concentrate on some homework instead. Still, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter 21 - Questions for Rin

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

A strange feeling was in the air. One that warned him of danger, the kind that allowed him to survive during his training with his father when he was growing up.

Mercury gave a wary glance at the large store in front of them, which seemed to be the source of his unease. His two companions - well, more like associates - didn't seem to have the same problem as they walked past him without a word.

"Is this the place?"

Emerald was the one to ask that. Their third associate merely nodded before opening the door and going in. Mercury and Emerald looked at each other for a moment, before shrugging and entering as well.

Mercury found himself listening to someone humming a little tune. The singer was a cute bunny girl who was transporting several comically large stacks of books across the room. Judging by the lack of effort on the girl's part, Mercury figured that she was someone who had her Aura unlocked, which may pose a problem for the upcoming meeting.

Emerald turned to her side and started to stare at something while the third member of their group merely looked around the shop. Not quite finding the person they were looking for, Mercury called out to the girl.

"Excuse me?"

"Hm?" The girl turned to him, and Mercury found out that she was a lot cuter than he thought. "Yes, is there something you need?"

Mercury gave out what he thought was a confident grin, which helped soothe his current worries over the upcoming task.

"Yeah, hi. My friends and I ordered a special book about a week ago, and we came to talk to Tukson about it. Mind telling us if he's in the shop?" Not quite the best lie he could come up with, but it got the point across.

"Sure, just wait a moment please," the girl - Velvet, from her nametag - smiled back before walking away. Mercury admired the sway of the girl's hips for a moment until he turned back to see a scowling Emerald watching him.

"Pig," she spat out.

Mercury gave a roguish grin in reply. "Despite having green hair, jealousy really isn't your color."

"Delusional as well."

"You know you want me."

Their bickering was interrupted as their third member finally spoke up. "Both of you, shut up already!"

Adam Taurus glared at the two of them with clear disdain in his eyes - well, eye. He wasn't exactly wearing his usual White Fang mask, but he did sport a large white eyepatch over his left eye that didn't quite cover the entirety of his scar, which didn't exactly help the man's mood.

That, and the fact that he had to work with two humans that clearly didn't appeal to him, probably meant that he was under a lot of angst at the moment.

"Hey man," Mercury frowned at the bull Faunus. "Don't get your knickers in a twist."

"It's already bad enough that we're working with the female, but instead of having her come here as she promised, I'm told I'll have to babysit you two instead while she frolics with other human scum."

Emerald glared at him as he insulted their boss. "Watch your mouth, Taurus. Cinder's recruiting more manpower to help in _your_ operations."

Well... it wasn't exactly untrue. But Mercury had the feeling that Cinder only wanted to do so to make Adam indebted even further to her.

"Tsk, just quiet down while I talk to the other party."

"Speaking of which, why are we even here? All Cinder told us was that you were looking for a guy named Tukson. A bookstore in the middle of Vale isn't exactly where I'd thought a White Fang agent would hide out in."

Adam looked even more annoyed as he heard Mercury's words. "That's because he's not one of ours. We're here to recruit him back into the cause."

Emerald raised an eyebrow. "Recruit him _back_ into the cause?"

"Yes. He managed to slip away from us a few years ago, and we haven't had the time to dedicate anyone to taking care of him till now."

Mercury hummed at that. "And what makes him so special that you haven't just offed the guy?"

Adam looked annoyed at the fact that he was still talking to them, but he explained anyways. "He's been making himself busy during the past two years. The Valean branch of the White Fang aren't as active as our main forces, and Tukson was able to allow our cause some measure of diplomacy and legitimacy. He's close to several influential parties, including a Glynda Goodwitch of Beacon Academy."

Emerald was already losing interest, seemingly more interested in the stack of books next to her instead of Adam's words.

"That might explain the Huntress part-timer."

"Quite," Adam stopped as the three of them heard someone moving towards them. From where the Faunus girl exited earlier came a large stocky Faunus man, who paused as he took in their appearances.

"Er... can I help you?"

Adam didn't waste any time. "Do you recognize me?"

It took Tukson a moment to reply, but other than a slight widening of his eyes, the man didn't seem bothered. "Huh, didn't expect someone as high in the group to come here personally."

"I hear that you're a man who prefers to talk things out. I would like to request a moment of your time to discuss several matters."

Tukson let out a heavy sigh. "And let me guess, refusal isn't exactly an option."

Mercury added his own bit. "You said it, not us."

Tukson grunted at that. "Fine. I have a room out back where the four of us can talk."

Adam relaxed. "Thank you. Please, lead the way."

As Tukson - followed by Adam - started to enter the back of the store, Emerald suddenly grabbed Mercury's sleeve.

"Mercury, stop. Something's wrong."

A sense of alarm went through his mind as he recalled the feeling from earlier. "What?"

"Look to my left, but don't look directly at it. Glance sideways or something." Emerald's voice was controlling and serious, and Mercury followed her directions. "Only look through the corner of your eye. It'll take a few seconds, but just watch."

He did, and at first, nothing happened. It took Mercury a moment to understand what Emerald was talking about, but when he did, Mercury almost jumped. "Holy shit, the fuck is that?!"

Right smack in the middle of the room was a giant life-sized statue of a Beowolf made entirely out of Dust. And not just one color either, but a strange rainbowy blend that smoothly transitioned between colors. The thing was staring straight at them closely but seemed to be passive at the moment. It didn't quite seem like it was interested in killing them.

_'Yet,' _a morbid part of him thought.

He cussed out loud this time. "Shit, how long was that thing there?!"

"The entire time." Emerald was still grabbing on to his sleeve, and this time Mercury wasn't gonna joke around. "I almost missed it myself, and I have a feeling that if my Semblance wasn't what it was, I would've never have noticed it."

Huh, didn't know her Semblance was good for things like that. Then again, it's not like it's common meeting someone else who can use illusions.

Still, it took Emerald about - what? - a couple of minutes to figure out that there was a frickin giant wolf statue right next to them. What if it wasn't the only one either? And right as Mercury thought that the feeling of danger from before came back in droves.

Great, just fucking great.

"Well, why isn't it doing anything then?"

Emerald risked another glance at it before turning her head back. "I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it's because we're not currently doing anything stupid."

The wolf shifted, and any remaining thoughts that it might just be a normal statue flew away. "Well, I guess we better not do anything stupid then."

"Agreed." The two warily started to move away even as the statue continued to move his head to stare at them.

Right as they were out of eyesight, Mercury finally let out a small breath of relief. Really, who would've guessed that a simple mission like this would be so dangerous?

Man, this job really sucked sometimes. Maybe he should've stayed behind with Cinder after all?

Clearly, he picked the worst of the two options.

}-{

_"You captured Salem's agent?!"_ Ozpin's voice expressed how shocked he was from the tiny Scroll in Rin's hands.

"Yup. We just picked her up and Qrow and I are on our way back to Beacon right now." Rin did note that Roman seemed quite in a rush to get rid of Cinder. Currently, Qrow was carrying the bound woman over his shoulders like a bag of potatoes. Rin ignored the various markings on the red-dressed woman's face and continued to talk to Ozpin. "Got a place we can dump her in till you come back?"

Ana had joined Rin again and the four of them were currently walking back towards Beacon, having been dropped off just a moment ago by the school's Bullhead. The evening sun gave the school a beautiful glow, and Rin took a second to admire it before continuing to walk.

Ozpin took a moment to think. _"Let Glynda know. She'll lead the two of you down to the Vault underneath the school. We have a room that can act as a temporary prison for now."_

"Got it. We'll bring the kidnapped woman straight to your personal hidden basement so that we can perform some unspeakable acts on her. Totally fine with that."

Ozpin gave her a deadpanned look. _"Please, take this seriously Rin."_

"I feel like a bit of levity is allowed considering what we've accomplished," Qrow added into the conversation. "Let the kid have her fun. I'm certainly not disagreeing with the sentiment."

_"I feel like the two of you get worse within each other's proximity."_

Qrow walked ahead carrying the bounded Cinder as Rin laughed. "Don't worry, Dumbledore. We'll call Minerva and throw Cinder in the dungeons until you come back. Speaking of which, how long are you gonna take in Mistral?"

Ozpin let out a heavy sigh. _"I'm not quite sure myself. The situation in Mistral is extremely unusual at the moment. With the recent Lionheart scandal and the sudden disappearances, the government is quite out of their depth."_

One of those things he said bothered her. "Disappearances?"

_"Maybe you can shed some light on the matter? No one is quite sure how exactly people are disappearing, but many witnesses have come forward with similar stories of people vanishing literally right next to them without anyone noticing. That, and the fact that Mistral is undergoing an early winter storm, all seems to point to something unnatural."_

Rin paused as she pressed a finger to her chin. "When exactly did this all start?"

_"The weather phenomena is more recent, but the disappearances started right around the time you left Anima."_

Rin frowned at that. "Are you saying it has something to do with me?"

_"Yes,"_ he said in a serious tone. _"I'm not accusing you of anything yet, but you have to understand that hundreds of people are missing and possibly dead. The fact that you haven't mentioned anything relating to this beforehand and the timing of events shows that while you may not be the cause of this unfortunate series of events, there is a high possibility that you may be related to this case."_

His words didn't exactly make her feel better, but she did see the logic behind his thought process. Still, it irked her that Ozpin didn't even at least pretend that he might have been considering another reason.

Well, let's think this through. First, this all started right around the time Rin interacted with the Relic of Knowledge and established a mock Heroic Spirit summoning ritual by linking the Crystal Zelretch gave her to the Relic.

First, she summoned Ana. Then she took a few hours to study the surroundings of the Vault. And then...

Rin paused.

...and then, she asked Jinn a question. One of the two questions available within Jinn's power to answer. Rin asked a question that came to her right at that moment without thinking, and Jinn answered.

No, it wasn't something stupid like 'What actions must I take in order to reach the Root' or 'How can I kill Salem' or anything like that. It was a lot more mundane in nature that Rin later regretted once she was in a better mood.

But while Jinn's response was quite worrying, Rin didn't think that had anything to do with the current situation at the moment.

The most likely theory to the cause of these disappearances was that Zelretch lied about the three-Servant limit restriction and that another Servant was summoned around the same time Ana came.

Was a Holy Grail War starting? Rin hoped not. But somehow, Rin doubted that Zelretch was interested in starting a Grail War, despite barely knowing anything about the man.

But if so, who could've been summoned? Ozpin mentioned something about a winter storm. Maybe a Servant related to ice?

Ugh, Erik's knowledge is only limited to the main Fate/stay night series and various bits he's learned from friends and the internet. If only he played Grand Order...

Rin paused. Huh, when did she start referring to Erik as a separate entity?

Shaking her head, she ignored that last thought and continued to talk to Ozpin.

"I don't know what's going on either. It might be another Servant like Ana, but honestly, I doubt it. Maybe this is some kind of butterfly effect due to my actions, but for the life of me I can't figure out how I caused this."

Ozpin merely nodded. "I_ thought so. Honestly, it was a long shot anyway, but it would've been too easy if it could be resolved so simply. I do apologize for the questioning."_

"Can't exactly blame you, even if it does annoy me."

Ozpin sighed again from the other end of the line. _"Again, I do apologize for this. But let us discuss other matters. Your association with the... criminal elements of Vale has been mentioned to me by Qrow."_

"Did he tell you that I'm some kind of behind-the-scenes Mafia boss?"

_"Would he be wrong?"_

Rin groaned. "Not you too."

_"While I cannot publicly support your decision on befriending such crowds due to my position, personally I feel that maintaining such relationships would bring more benefits than problems. I'll only trust that you know what you are doing."_

"Ozpin, I literally did not realize this situation until Qrow pointed it out to me. Face it, I don't know what the hell I'm doing at all."

Ozpin merely hummed at that. _"Well, you seem to make things work out."_

Rin grumbled as she pocketed the Scroll into her dress pants. Seriously, with all that's happened today, all Rin wants right now is to collapse on her bed and knock herself out for the night.

"U-Um, excuse me?" Hearing a voice coming from behind her, Rin turned around to see... huh?

A familiar figure stood across from Rin. "I'm Weiss, Weiss Schnee, of the Schnee Dust enterprise. May I please have your name?"

Rin, dressed in her male persona, stood across a blushing Weiss Schnee.

...fucking hell, this has to be Qrow's Semblance.

* * *

**Yup, late again. But only by a day this time. I know it's annoying to some of you, but note that this might become a reoccurring thing since most of my homework is due at midnight on the weekends, so I might have to think about switching the post dates to this story.**

**What do you think about Thursdays? Any problems with that?**

**But let's move on and talk about the chapter. So Rin's made some kind of security around Tukson just in case Canon tries to fire. And questions are being asked about what exactly is going on in Mistral. And what exactly did Rin ask Jinn? How are the disappearances related to Rin? What the hell is Rin gonna do with Weiss Schnee of all people having a crush on her?**

**I dunno, don't ask me. It's 1 AM and I'm sleep-deprived at the moment, having just finished writing this. Figure it out yourselves while I nap the morning away.**

**See ya.**


	22. Contact

**A.N. (10/1/20) - Back after a two-week break, and already, I'm a few days late. Excuses later, chapter now!**

* * *

Chapter 22 - Contact

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

"And here is the Cross Continental Transmit System, otherwise abbreviated to the CCT system, which forms the base of Beacon Tower. It is one of Atlas' greatest gifts to Vale—"

Weiss continued to talk as Rin followed awkwardly behind her. Somehow, the white-haired girl had roped Rin into taking a tour of the campus with Weiss acting as her guide. And Rin, unable to refuse her, was unable to get a word in before Weiss started her lecture.

The occasional glances Weiss sent her way when she thought Rin wasn't looking only made the situation even more awkward. Even more so when Weiss would blush furiously before turning away.

But really, how was Rin supposed to have predicted this outcome? From what she knew, the only romantic interest Weiss has ever shown to someone was Neptune. And considering how the guy turned out, that didn't exactly put Weiss in a good light in regards to her romantic inclinations.

"—because all four Kingdoms using it, the CCT is an important part of—"

Still, that doesn't exactly solve the current problem.

Right now, Rin is completely dressed up as a guy. Not only does she look more masculine, but with the changes to her height and hair length due to various techniques, it's almost impossible to connect her current appearance to that of Rin Tohsaka. Maybe someone who knew her well, like Tukson or Ruby, might be able to see through her disguise. But definitely not someone like Weiss, who's total interaction with Rin amounted to a sum less than a couple of hours.

Weiss completely believes that she's actually a guy, and even beyond that, is showing hints of romantic interest.

Now, the half-plus-seven rule is something that Rin adheres to pretty strictly. Assuming she's basing her maximum age off of Erik's twenty years of life, plus the additional five years spent on Remnant, then that would put her to about 25 years old. So even though physically, Rin is fifteen years old, the minimum age requirement for Rin to even consider dating would have to be 19.

"—and recently, all Atlas robots are slowly switching to connecting to the wireless network to improve in areas of deployment and efficiency. Most modern units are now directly connected to the CCT—"

So no, Rin's not planning on leading her on. Best nip this before it becomes anything more, and there is one way Rin can go about that.

Telling her the truth.

Making up her mind, Rin cleared her throat before she started. "Miss Schee, I'm sorry to interrupt but—"

Weiss blushed and turned her head to look away. "P-Please, call me Weiss."

Pausing a bit at Weiss's words, Rin continued awkwardly. "Er... very well then. Weiss, this tour was great and all, but I have something I must confess." She took a breath. "I'm actually a—"

"Hello, there~," the familiar voice of Yang came from behind them. "I've been looking everywhere for you, Weiss. And who's this next to you?"

"—stounded at the generosity Atlas has graced this Academy," Rin finished in a panic just as the two turned around to face Yang. "Oh, hello there random stranger who I definitely do not know. Are you a friend of Weiss?"

Yang quirked an eyebrow at the strange response, but Rin managed to sport a natural looking calm smile on her face. Inwardly, however, Rin was less than calm about the situation.

_'Ahhhhhhhhh, what do I do?! Wait, why am I panicking? It's just Yang, she'll understand... right? Understand what? That I'm dressing up as someone of the opposite sex just because? It's not like I can tell her exactly why I was dressed like this. Maybe I can just play it off as a hobby. Or maybe she won't notice. No, just tell them who you are already, this is getting ridiculous.'_

The sudden look of comprehension on Yang's face made Rin pause in fear. A grin started to grow on the blonde brawler, and Rin guessed that Yang had most likely figured out Rin's identity.

"Well hello~ there. My name is Yang, and I'm just wonder-_Rin_ why Weiss was taking so long to come back to our room," Yang batted her eyes playfully which caused Weiss to scoff. Meanwhile, Rin could feel the emphasis of her name from within Yang's words.

Scratch that, she definitely knew who Rin was.

"I was not gone that long, Yang." Weiss gestured to Rin next to her. "I was just showing a visitor around the campus."

"Oh," and Yang leaned in close as she continued to smile mischievously. "Does this visitor happen to have a name?"

Rin continued to sweat behind her back. Holding out a hand, Rin awkwardly laughed as she replied with the first name she could come up with, "Ritsuka Fujimaru."

"The two of us met earlier and I invited Ritsuka to take a tour of the campus with me," Weiss explained.

"And it's been really great of you to do that Weiss." Not really, but a little lie won't hurt anyone. "But I actually have something important to do, so I think I should go."

"Aw, come on. You sure you can't take the time to hang out with the two of us?" Yang grabbed on to Rin's arms, Weiss glowering at the action. "I feel like we're such great friends already."

A tick mark appeared on Rin's head. "Listen, you blonde bi—"

"Heeeeyyyy~ Yang!" The sound of yet another familiar voice interrupted Rin. "Blake and I were looking for you."

"—eautiful woman, I would love to hang out with the two of you." A forced smile appeared on Rin's face as Ruby and Blake came around the corner to where they were at. Weiss looked jealous at what Rin said to Yang. Seriously, what is up with her luck today? "But maybe another time. I really do have something important to do today."

"Oh, t-then maybe we can t-talk another time," Weiss interjected while pulling something out of her pocket. "How about w-we trade Scroll numbers and meet another t-time?"

Rin looked down to the aforementioned object in Weiss's hands, then up to the blushing girl herself, then sideways to see Yang staring expectantly at her. Sighing to herself, she pulled out her own Scroll as they exchanged their contact info.

Ruby and Blake caught up to them while doing so, with Ruby in a chipper mood and Blake in a dazed state with what looked like her soul leaving her mouth. What?

Even Yang had to comment. "What's up with Blake?"

"Dunno, she's been like that ever since we've left the library. It's not like we were doing much, just studying."

Studying? Rin and Yang turned to stare at Blake, who was shivering in place while staring off into the distance.

"I never thought I could read too much," Blake whispered to herself. "How could they do this to me? Turning the one love of my life into such pain."

...what? Seriously, what happened to her? Yang continued to look confused while Ruby turned to suddenly stare at Rin. Crap, is she gonna figure it out too?

Ruby was staring thoughtfully at Rin. "Hm, you look kinda familiar. Do I know you?"

Even as Rin began to panic, Yang quickly interjected from the side. "Well, how could you Rubes. This here is Ritsuka Fujimaru, a total stranger whom we just met today and never before. Definitely not someone we know familiarly at all."

Laying on it a bit thick there Yang. Still, thanks for the save.

"Hmm," Ruby continued to stare at Rin for another ten or so seconds, Rin sweating the whole time. "...oh well. Must be one of those faces."

Rin nearly fell flat on her face at those words. Seriously, today is really bad for her heart.

"And... done! I'll send you a message later too see when the two of us are free."

Oh yeah, Rin almost forgot about Weiss.

"Er, I'm not sure when I'll be free..." seeing Yang staring intently at her, Rin quickly followed up in a panic. "But I'll see what I can do. I would love to meet up with you later."

"Oh, okay then." And then Weiss blushed again, causing my heart to skip a beat. She awkwardly waving her hand. "See you later, Ritsuka."

She's still only seventeen, Rin. Don't fall in love with that adorable action of her's.

"S-Sure thing," she replied back. And Rin noticed that Yang was stifling her laughter in the background. Turning around to leave, Rin quickly fleed the area as she started to go to where Qrow was supposed to go.

Ugh, since she's technically twenty-five, is she allowed to drink yet? Maybe she can swipe Qrow's flask while he's not looking later. She definitely needed it after everything that's happened today.

The sound of a ping altered Rin to the fact that a text message was sent to her. Half expecting the sender to be Weiss, Rin stared at the message Yang had just sent.

_BimboBrawler - U def need to tell me the deets later! Dun worry, I wont say nuthin 4 now. But u better go on dat date w ice queen later._

Rin's face met her hand.

}-{

Tukson stared incredulously at the other man sitting across from him.

"Are you an idiot! That's a horrible idea."

"Not if we receive your aide. With your efforts, recruitment alone will rise due to your reputation."

"Putting aside the idea of me even working for you, your whole plan is stupid. Why on Remnant would you want to attack the city?! Isn't that kind of thing reserved only for the robots of the Schnee Dust Company?"

"It will send a message."

"Yeah, a message saying that we're dangerous and willing to commit genocide to make a point."

The mint-haired girl sitting to the side couldn't help but comment. "Isn't that what everyone thinks of the White Fang already?"

"That's not th— ugh, never mind. I think the three of you already know what I'm talking about, and you either don't care or think that somehow you can get away with it." Tukson glared at Adam, his arms folded across his chest. "But if you think you can just come into my store and force me back, then I'll have to give you a hard pass."

The other boy whistled. "You know that any one of us can kill you where you sit, right?"

The girl frowned. "Wait, what about th—"

The boy waved her off. "Shut up, I'm doing a thing." Turning to Tukson again, he smirked. "But even if we spend the rest of the night threatening you to join, I'm gonna guess that your answer won't change much. But then again..."

A wide smile split across his face. "...you're not the only one we can threaten."

Tukson glared at the boy. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The boy shrugged. "Oh, you know. The local grapevine likes to tell us things sometimes. Rumor on the street is that a single Faunus male has adopted a young little human girl. Causes quite the whispers among the neighborhood wives, I'll tell you that." The boy continued to ignore Tukson's rising anger. "Especially humans. Some are wondering if you're keeping her for less than honorable reasons."

"You leave Rin out of this!" Tukson roared.

The boy held up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, I'm just the lackey. My boss has the final say on what goes on in this city. Adam here just wants you to help out once in a while. We don't really need you to join us completely, just handle a few jobs for us."

Adam picked up after being mentioned. "While I do not care for your spawn, I will tell my men to not involve themselves with her. As long as you agree to a few of our terms, the girl will stay safe."

Tukson glared at the three people in front of him, but the image of Rin, being ambushed by the likes of these criminals. Sure, she's good in a fight. But she's not invincible.

"...fine. I'll fuckin do what you want."

"Excellent. We'll keep in contact with you." As the three of them got up to leave, the mint-haired girl turned to look at him. "Oh, and before you get any crazy ideas, don't talk to Goodwitch about this. While she may cause us some problems if she gets Beacon involved, are you willing to risk your daughter's life?"

Tukson glared at her. "Get out before I change my mind and decide to rip out your throat. I'll keep quiet."

A smirk rested on her face. "Heh, guess you ain't just all bark after all." Her face suddenly turned nervous. "But then again, we do have to leave so I'll just go now."

Tukson collapsed onto his seat after the three of them left. Holding his head in his hands, Tukson kept going over what just happened over the past hour.

_'What have I done...'_

}-{

"Are you crazy! We could've died back there due to your stupid stunt." Emerald gave him a hard wack as she said that. Adam had split from them almost immediately after leaving the store, and Mercury already missed the guy.

Since that meant that he was now alone with Emerald.

"Ow," rubbing his shoulder, he glared at her. "Don't worry, I figured that if I played my cards right, we would be okay."

"Killer! Statues! The guy could've ordered them to kill us, did you think of that?!"

"I doubt the guy even knows about the protection he's got."

Emerald blinked owlishly. "The hell are you talking about?"

Mercury quirked an eyebrow up. "It was obvious. He was freaking out the whole time, thinking we were gonna kill him, and not like a guy who's guarded by crazy robots or something. I managed to spot another one of those weird statues. There was a little bird made out of some kind of gem in the room with us. He barely glanced in that direction. Face it, the man had no idea it was there, so it wasn't him who was controlling it."

She let out a huff of air. "Great, we don't have to worry about the Faunus that we're threatening, but instead some unknown controller of killer statues made out of frickin jewelry."

"Jewelry? I thought it was just Dust?"

She rolled her eyes. "I was a gutter rat who made her way into thievery stealing gems. I'd think I would recognize quality when I see one."

"Hm, didn't the file Cinder gave us say something about the daughter being good with Dust crystals or something? Think it's her that's the danger here?"

"Either way, Cinder will know what to do. We'll see what she tells us once we report to her."

Unaware that their boss was just captured, the two walked back to their base.

* * *

**Finally, I'm almost done with this event. I'm still stuck on the first week of the Beacon school year, and I've been trying to get out of it these past few chapters. Also spent a few hours redoing this chapter until it felt right.**

**I know I'm late. Honestly, I should put up a disclaimer or something saying that my post dates are more suggestions than guarantees. **

**Speaking of which, let's talk about the post schedule for a bit. I mentioned before that I switched to a bi-weekly post schedule and that I would think about changing the post date to another day.**

**And I dunno if some of you noticed on Sunday, but the site's been acting weird for user accounts. I noticed it while writing the chapter that there was some kind of error that made it unable for users to access their accounts. Needless to say, I also found out that the chapter I was writing at the time wasn't saved, and thus I lost around 60% of it and was unable to complete the rest.**

**Since I couldn't work on the chapter that day, I concentrated on studying for the midterm (cause I had midterms this week) instead and decided to post this another day.**

**Because of this, I have an announcement. **

**From this chapter onward, I'll be changing my post dates to Wednesdays instead of Sundays. It just works with my schedule better (in a weird way that takes into account my procrastinating habits). I'll see how this works for the next couple of chapters.**

**BTW that means the next chapter will be on Wednesday, October 14th (for those of you who don't check the little schedule of mine that I have on my profile) so wait in anticipation until then.**

**Now, I gotta go now cause I have a quiz tomorrow, and instead of studying I've spent the last few hours procrastinating on writing this chapter instead of facing my upcoming problems (...author leaves to go scream in a pillow).**


	23. End of a Week

**A.N. (10/14/20) - Wow, it's been a while since I posted anything. Here's to another one of E-Rin's adventures.**

* * *

Chapter 23 - End of a Week

-10 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Cinder woke up abruptly, panic sharpening her senses.

Her body was bound tightly to the ground, leaving her in a kneeling position that absolutely humiliated her. She was inside a large room that glowed with a dim green color. The floor felt cool to her touch, and if she willed it, could be converted to hot glass in mere moments.

Not that it would help much if she correctly guessed how exactly she was taken out.

A snort to her left took her out of her thoughts. "Wow, and I'd thought you would never wake up."

"Where am I?! Who are you?!" Taking in the man's appearance, the word 'scruffy' came to mind. After a few moments looking over him, she finally recognized him.

"Hmph, so Ozpin's already got his hand in the criminal elements of the city. Salem did say that he was the Second Owner of the city for a reason."

Qrow Branwen, for who else could it be, shrugged his shoulders. "Believe it or not, Ozpin's got nothing to do with that. You just happened to run into a weirder freak than him."

She frowned at his words but chose to ignore it to concentrate on the current situation.

Taking a moment to calm down, she felt her mind slowly return to that blissful calculative state she trained herself to maintain. Taking note of her state, she considered her options.

Right now, she is currently captured by enemy forces, with no clear idea of whether or not anyone knows where she is. So far, she noticed that only Qrow was watching her. But if she truly believed that he was their only defense keeping her here, then she was a fool. Even if she could count on Emerald and Mercury to somehow get her out, Adam alone would cause problems the longer she let him on his own.

Just from educated guesses alone, she might be somewhere near Beacon. It would make sense for Ozpin to keep some kind of prison near his main base. Escape was currently the top priority. Not because she feared whatever torture Ozpin and his group could inflict on her, but because the idea of her failure reaching the Mistress would most likely have her killed for her mistakes.

Or even worse, she'd send Watts to help her.

She clenched her teeth in anger as she vaguely recalled being hit by some kind of strange attack. If only she had the Maiden's power... no. Forget about thinking of what-ifs.

"You know, as amusing as it is to watch you think about all the ways you fucked up in life," Qrow started, causing her to grind her teeth loudly. "I was kinda told to talk to you once you woke up from your nap."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" She gave him a coy smile. "Are you gonna spend all night here with little ol' me getting me to whisper sweet words into your ear?"

To his credit, he didn't react. "Nah, I'm gonna offer you a deal." Pulling out a parchment from somewhere on his person, he held it out to her. "Just sign your name on this and you're free to go."

She frowned at the unexpected move. Leaning in to look at the paper, her frown deepened. "What language is this?"

"Hell if I know. All Ri— err, I mean - Ritsuka told me was that it would keep you in line while you're staying here."

Well, that didn't sound ominous at all. And while Cinder had no idea what exactly would happen if she signed that paper, she was 99% sure it wasn't anything good. Either it was the product of some strange Semblance or something magical in origin, Cinder knew that she couldn't let herself get caught up in their flow.

Luckily, all she has to deal with the moment is a dusty old crow.

"I'll have to refuse that option, thank you very much." Seeing him frown, she continued speaking. "Instead, how bout we wait for old Ozpin to come back to Vale to personally interrogate me. After all..."

Lying through her teeth, she spoke. "I might be willing to impart information on Salem's forces."

}-{

"She really hasn't noticed?" Glynda asked from right next to Rin.

Rin wanted to snicker but felt that Glynda would disapprove if she did so during this situation. "I doubt she has that much exposure to the full extents magic could reach, despite who she works for. Besides, curses aren't really something you can feel if you don't know how to spot them."

"Can..." the older woman sighed while pressing a hand to her forehead. "Can you go over the effects of what you did to her again?"

Rin hummed and then started to answer. "Well first, I made her more susceptible to questioning by messing a bit with her mind, nothing a little hypnosis can't fix. Then, I set up a bounded field around the room linked to her so that she'll have some trouble running out of here without at least alerting one of us. And the spatial warping effect makes it so that it's almost impossible for her to escape anyways. Not to mention the countless Crystal Golems I have guarding the place on clockwork. And then there's the pain seal, making it so that whoever she attacks also hurts herself. I'm still working on figuring out a more sophisticated slave seal, so I haven't applied that to her yet. But just in case, I implanted a few gems inside her body while she was asleep with some pre-set spell constructs to incapacitate her. Some lethal, I admit, but those are just in case of the worst scenarios."

Glynda was deeply concerned at what exactly went through her young charge's thoughts. Maybe she should have a talk with Tukson at their next meeting.

"And this... is the temporary imprisonment methods you suggested until Ozpin got back?"

Rin looked at her with a confused look. "Well, yeah? It's not like I have any idea what to do with her. That's your guys' jobs. I made sure nothing I did to her is permanent, so we can get rid of everything once you figure out what to do with her."

And Glynda didn't know if it was concerning how Rin honestly believed that she needed their input for her to take action. If she was any less moral of a person, there would be nobody capable of stopping her if Rin Tohsaka truly wished to do as she wanted.

If this is what Tukson had to deal with daily, then the man deserved a gift basket. Then again, it's not like the guardian knew about his daughter's extra activities.

...maybe she can sneak in an extra bottle of wine to go with that gift basket. Lord knows he needs it if he ever finds out about his daughter's secrets.

"Regardless, we have other problems to deal with. Qrow can keep watch over Salem's agent for now, and until Ozpin comes back, I will take charge of this school and city."

Rin nodded and the two started to walk away. "We still got that White Fang problem, right? Somehow, we fell for their peaceful discussion act and overlooked a group of armed terrorists into the city."

And that cut deeply for Glynda. Working with Tukson these past few years was something that Glynda thought mattered. Like she actually accomplished something, allowing peaceful discussions with dissatisfied Faunus civilians and government officials.

To think that even after all that, those with souls full of anger still banded together to cause harm to others.

"Do you have any information on where the majority of the White Fang forces will be?"

Rin took a moment to think. "Hm, if I recall right, they'd be hiding it out in the city recruiting others. Either that or they're at Mt. Glenn."

She quirked an eyebrow at that last part. "Mt. Glenn?"

"Yeah. Some plan about using the tunnels connecting the city to where the Grimm infested city is. Making it so that the Grimm can break into the city or something. It's honestly a stupid plan that only works as a distraction at best, even with the potential number of civilian deaths it could cause."

Glynda deadpanned. "Yes, such a stupid plan." Ignoring how this girl got her information, the way Rin seemed to gloss over the potential deaths that could occur.

Sometimes, this girl...

"But really, their plan is stupid for so many reasons. I mean, their base is literally right smack in the middle of Grimm territory. It isn't exactly like the frontier villages, since they don't have proper lodgings or resources. And also the fact that they're living under... a..."

Rin started to trail off all of a sudden, before shouting at the top of her lungs. "I'M AN IDIOT! HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THE WYVERN GRIMM!"

"The wyvern what?!"

"Not now, gotta go." And with that, Rin dashed ahead and left Glynda behind.

}-{

Ruby continued to gush as she rolled around on her bed. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe that Weiss would be the first one out of all of us to ask someone out."

Weiss glowered at her from the other side of the room. Ruby noted that there was a faint blush on her face. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"To be fair, we're on a team with Yang," Blake interjected.

Weiss raised her finger only to lower it after a moment. "Hm, good point Blake. That was silly of me to forget."

Her sister choked at that. "H-Hey, I'm not that bad."

"I dunno sis," Ruby started. "Pretty sure those guys from that time we slept before initiation have a different opinion."

"Bah, you're all just jealous that I'm as amazing as I am. So Ice Queen, when are you gonna call him?"

The blush from earlier came back full force on Weiss' face. "I-I believe that I should wait for a sufficient period of time for the b-both of us to collect our thoughts before we decide to meet again."

"Sheesh, you don't have to put it in so many words. All I'm asking for is when you're expecting to exchange saliva."

"Xiao Long, I will murder you in your sleep!"

"If her snoring doesn't kill us first," Blake muttered under her breath. Ruby snickered after hearing that comment, but curiosity forced her to talk to Weiss.

"So what makes that Ritsuka guy so special? Sure, I guess he's kinda cute if you squint a certain way. But I kinda would've thought you'd go for someone fancier."

Weiss looked like a cornered rat, with how all three girls suddenly started to stare in her direction.

"I-I don't exactly know exactly why myself. I just had this feeling that I met a... kindred spirit. Does that make sense?"

Yang rolled her eyes. "Oh, you have nooo idea."

Ruby ignored Yang's comment. "That's fine Weiss. Love doesn't have to make sense, that's why it's love."

"I don't really think that's how it works," Weiss replied, before blushing furiously again. "And besides, who says I'm in love with him. At most, this is just a crush."

Ugh, now it was Ruby's turn to roll her eyes. "Fine, we'll support you and your crush. I'm sure that between the rest of us, Team Bravery can kindle enough courage in your heart to ask him out."

Yang stuck out her tongue. "Bleck, that's sounds so corny Rubes."

Weiss sighed. "I seriously doubt that I can get any love advice from the three of you."

"Well..." looking at Yang, Ruby silently laughed before deciding that was a big NOPE. And besides that one not-really-sorta-date she went on when she was a kid, Ruby didn't really have that much in romantic experience to help either.

Yang laughed. "How about you Blake? Surely you have some raunchy tales with some of your previous romantic partners. I've seen the kind of porn you read."

Blake looked affronted. "It's not porn, it's _art_."

Ruby sighed, before berating her sister. "Yang, I seriously doubt our leader is like that. Just because she reads books like that, doesn't mean that she also has convoluted romantic stories. Right, Blake?"

Silence lingered in the air, Blake's eyes wouldn't meet any of them.

"...Blake? You were supposed to agree with me."

"Y-You know what?! I think I'm in the mood to finish Oobleck's assignment."

"What! No, you can't just dangle bait like that and run away."

"Yang, let me go! I won't talk."

Weiss recoiled from Blake with a different kind of blush on her face. "Y-You pervert! Our leader is a pervert!"

"What?! Weiss, I haven't even said anything yet."

Huh, Ruby did not expect to learn that much about her new partner. Somehow, this week seemed to last a lot longer than she expected.

}-{

As the four girls continued to roughhouse, thousands of miles away, a black shadow turned towards a direction while sniffing the air. Moving along the ground, everywhere it walked, frost formed.

"**Gggrroooaahhahhah.**" A strange groan escaped the creature's lips. Picking up speed, it started to run towards a certain destination in its mind. Having caught the scent, it focused all its attention on where it was coming from, an unusual excitement erupting from the creature.

There was no doubt, that scent was exactly what it was looking for.

Because the scent of a Maiden always stood out in this world.

* * *

**Yup, finally finished with the first week of school, which somehow took (looks back to previous chapters) thirteen chapters to go through.**

**And wow, I did not expect to spend so much time on the beginning of Beacon. I'm gonna try to change my pace a bit to see what works, so hopefully, I won't be releasing a lot of fillers after this. **

**I know this chapter isn't much. This was more of a transition chapter that's preparing for the story to go the next month. Chapter updates are looking good so far coming out on Wednesdays. Still gonna be a bi-weekly thing, cause I'm a lazy asshole who still cares about his education.**

**I guess I got nothing else to say. Look to my profile to see if I have any updates (since that's where I let people know when chapters are coming out - late or not). That's it for now, see ya.**


	24. Time Passes

**A.N. (10/29/20) - Just finished a midterm today, which I totally forgot I had when I scheduled this chapter. That's why the chapter's late, that and the fact that I don't write these ahead of time.**

* * *

Chapter 24 - Time Passes

-9 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

The entire room glowed in an eerie red glow as Rin concentrated on the experiment in front of her.

Grabbing several Dust crystals, she began to send slight amounts of Prana into them in a continuous flow. Soon, the crystals began to melt into a viscous paste. Pouring out of her hands and into the jar underneath them, Rin quickly closed it after completely melting the contents of her hands.

Mumbling to herself, she shot a look at a few sheets of paper on a desk next to her. Judging that everything was going according to plan, she quickly let out a sigh of relief.

"Yup, this should do it. A couple more tries of this, and I should be ready to mix them this weekend."

A voice spoke in her mind. "Are_ you done for today?"_

"Not yet, I still need to clean everything first. But after that, we should be good for a few days until I'm ready for the final step."

Ana materialized into the room. Tilting her head, she looked up to Rin. "Do you need any help?"

Rin smiled at her. "If you can please. Can you help me carry a few boxes to the storage room next door?"

Ana gave a cute nod in response.

Rin yawned looked at the clock next to her and saw that it was already afternoon. Weird, since last time she checked it was midnight. "Do you want to get some lunch after this?"

The young girl shook her head side-to-side. "The red lady is still there. I don't like her."

"Neither do I, but Qrow says he's got it handled. I trust him to keep her in check."

Ana stared at her with a deadpan look on her face. "Qrow isn't trustworthy."

Rin tried to understand how her Servant even got to that idea. "Of course he's trustworthy. He's Ozpin's second-hand man and I've known him for years. He won't suddenly betray us and work with Cinder of all people."

Ana tilted her head in confusion before comprehension dawned on her face. "Misunderstanding. I meant Qrow isn't _reliable_."

"... that makes a bit more sense." Rin blushed as her brain finally started working again. "I think I might have taken too many hours out of my sleep schedule to work on this."

"Do you want me to take you to bed?"

Another yawn threatened to come out of Rin's mouth. "Mm, I'm good. But thanks for the offer."

}-{

It's been a few weeks since initiation, and Blake was finally getting used to the idea that she's in charge of a team.

After getting used to her teammates and their quirks, Blake found that being the team leader was actually quite nice. During those few and rare moments where she was able to exercise her authority, she found satisfaction in having her opinion actually heard and taken into mind, with surprisingly little grumbling from the Schnee. Quite different from her times during the White Fang, where she had to butt heads with more than the bull Faunus that was her ex.

So in conclusion, Blake found that her time at Beacon was going pretty nicely.

Most of the time.

"Hey, it's Team Brewery!" The mocking voice of one of their latest annoyances broke Blake's thoughts.

Yang glared back at the boy. "It's Team _Bravery_, Cardin. Can't remember the name of the team who wiped you out in class?"

"Bravery? Hah, more like Team Chicken."

"We're not the ones named after a bird."

"C'mon Yang, just drop it." Blake dragged Yang a little forcibly away from the other boy, who sneered at them as they passed the corner. "You already have detention from your fight with Cardin last week. Don't give Miss Goodwich a reason to give another."

"Ugh, I can't help it." Yang threw her hands up into the air. "Back at Signal, I'm too used to just duking it out in the hallways with Rin. Combat class aside, I'm brimming with energy and I have nothing to do with it."

Blake sighed. "I don't even want to know what you're talking about. But if you insist, I'll bring up the idea of having some team training sessions with Weiss later. Individual training doesn't seem to cut it for you."

"Nope. Mama needs something to pound her fist in." Yang emphasized that by punching her palm and making a loud sound. "And since Rin's busy with that big project of her's, I'll settle for us and Team Avalon. You are inviting them, right?"

"Might as well." The two of them finally reached the cafeteria, and Blake saw that Ruby was waving at them eagerly while sitting with Weiss and friends. "Why not ask them now?"

"Sure, but let's grab some grub first." Yang quickly moved to where the food was being served and... "Uncle Qrow?!"

"Who?"

But Yang ignored her and quickly ahead without her. Sighing to herself, she quickly caught up to Yang and found the blonde girl animately chatting with the scruffy-looking man at the end of the lunch line.

"What are you even doing here?" Blake caught Yang asking. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching at Signal?"

"Naw, I'm done with that. Oz got me a better job working on a few things here in Vale, and sometimes that means working with Beacon for a bit. So you'll be seeing me around for a while whenever I'm working from here. Just like back at Signal, only this time I'm not one of your teachers."

Yang frowned at him. "You sure you just didn't get fired?"

"Brat," Qrow playfully swiped at her. Nodding his head to Blake, he asked Yang, "So kid, is this your partner?"

"Hm? Nah, this is Blake. She's our team leader and Ruby's partner."

Blake tilted her head towards him. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hey!" An annoyed voice interrupts them. "Are the three of you going to get anything or what? You're holding up the line."

Qrow frowned and turned to face the lunch lady. "Hey, cool it. You could've just asked nicely."

The annoyed lunch lady sneered at him. "I gotta feed a dozen more kids after you, so I would appreciate it if you would keep the line moving."

Qrow turned his body towards her. "You know, I don't think I appreciate that tone—"

"Now, now." Yang quickly moved in front of her uncle. "Let's not escalate into a fight. Seriously Uncle Qrow, not cool. She's just doing her job."

"Wha— but she's..."

"Seriously, just keep moving Uncle Qrow."

The man grumbled as they got their food and moved away to get a table. Qrow excused himself while Yang and Blake sat down at their usual table. Nora and Jaune waved at them briefly before going back to tackling their food.

Ruby beamed at the two of them. "Hi Yang, hi Blake. Guess you both met Uncle Qrow. Isn't it great that he's gonna be here?!"

"If he doesn't continue to embarrass us," grumbled Yang, picking into her food. "I mean, who picks on the lunch lady?"

"Oh, you mean Miss Fall?" Pyrrha interjected. "I talked to her when she first got here. Apparently, she recently lost her job and was hired once Ozpin heard about her situation."

Jaune quickly swallowed the remains of his sandwich and gave her a weird look. "Do you usually talk to the lunch ladies at Beacon?"

Pyrrha blushed and looked away. "J-Just when they're not busy. They make quite the conversationalists."

"As interesting it is to learn about Pyrrha's frankly depressing pastimes," Nora started, getting an indignant 'Hey!' from Pyrrha. "I'm excited about next Monday. Did you hear? Miss Goodwich is going to be gone for the week."

A gasp came from the two girls who didn't know.

"Does that mean we're getting a sub?" Yang started, imagining her Uncle Qrow taking over for the day.

"Does that mean the class is canceled?" Blake asked, thinking about that new book she's been hoping to read.

"Nope to the second question but yes to the first," Jaune answered. "And you'll never believe it. Apparently, Miss Goodwich asked Rin to teach for the week."

Blake merely blinked in response, while Yang's reaction was a bit more exaggerated. Falling off her bench with a loud crash, Yang stared at Jaune with wide eyes. "I'm doomed..."

Ruby pouted. "Yang, don't be mean. Rin sounds like she would be an awesome teacher."

"All those times I smashed her face into the floor. She's totally gonna get me back."

Weiss held out a hand and helped Yang back to her seat. "I've heard a few stories from Yang and Ruby about Miss Tohsaka, but is she truly qualified to teach the entire class by herself?" He quickly held up his hands in surrender when Ruby sent a look his way. "I mean... isn't she the same age as Ruby?"

"Actually, I think she's a few months younger than me," Ruby added.

Weiss continued. "The fact that she's already hired as a full-time researcher by Beacon shows that Rin is an accomplished and capable scholar. But the only qualification as a combat instructor she has is helping Jaune get ready to pass initiation."

Jaune froze as everyone looked his way. "W-Well, I was pretty much a horrible fighter before Rin helped out. I'd like to say she knows what she's doing since I learned a lot of what I know from her."

Nora patted Jaune's back. "If my partner says she's good, then she's probably _amazing_."

"More like horrifying," mumbled Jaune. "Just make sure to never ask her to help you learn how to dodge."

Ruby winced at that last word, then realized what he said. "She did that to you too?"

Jaune stared at her. "You too?"

The two stared at each other for a moment, before suddenly hugging each other with tears in their eyes and bawling into each other's shoulders.

"She always shouted that word."

"I still freeze whenever someone says it."

"I had to replace my armor because of her."

"I don't even wear armor. I learned how to explode into a bunch of rose petals because I couldn't escape in time."

"Did she punch you in the face too?"

"Only all the time. She literally didn't hit anywhere else. And she used a sword half the time."

"Same!"

Ren looked at the two strangely before staring at Yang. "Should we be worried."

A shiver went down Yang's spine. "Yup."

}-{

Cinder stared at the large pile of dishes and trays in front of her. Her eye began to twitch.

Qrow watched with amusement from his little corner. "Get those hands working. That pile won't take care of itself."

She turned to glare at him with fire in her eyes. Not literally, of course. "I still can't believe you're making me do menial labor?"

"Hey, we're feeding and housing you. The least you can do is pay off your own expenses."

"I am a political prisoner working for the Queen of the Grimm. I should be in either a cell or being interrogated by an Atlesian general. Not cleaning up after your brats and doing the dishes."

"I'll have you know that this is how the Branwen Tribe makes prisoners useful. After all, anyone can do chores." He shrugged his shoulders. "Otherwise, they'd just get sold off or inducted into the tribe."

She tried to pounce on the man with the weapon in her hands - a frying pan she was scrubbing down - but her body suddenly froze and rooted itself to the ground.

The other man noticed and smirked. "Nice try. But as long as you got that cute magic tattoo on your belly, no more attacking others without permission."

She glared at him for another few seconds, before angrily stomping off back to the sink with the tower of dishes next to it.

He was right. Ever since she was captured, things had been getting worse and worse for her. At first, Cinder believed that she would hold out until Emerald or Mercury sent a rescue attempt to retrieve her. Even if they themselves didn't want to involve themselves, they would at least know to request anyone from Salem's court. Even if it would've burned her to be in debt to someone like Tyrian or Watts, she would've been free.

And then something happened to her.

Knocked unconscious, she wasn't awake to see how or what exactly they did to her. But after waking up one day with a burning tattoo on her midriff, she found out that the horrors of being Ozpin's prisoner were finally made aware to her.

Cinder's greatest fear was losing control of her own fate. Being forced to forever duck her head and be subservient to another, unable to make her own choices and decisions. Working with Salem somewhat fed that fear, but Cinder could ignore it in exchange for the promise of power.

This, however, was her nightmare made reality. Some kind of magic seal that made her unable to attack anyone without inflicting the same injuries on herself. Being forced to listen to the orders of her handler Qrow and anyone he allowed.

Every single scrap of information was extracted from her mind. Every precaution was taken on her while confined. And even now, with this cruel illusion of the freedom of not being in a cell was only to mock her.

Even if she escaped, she will have no place back in Salem's inner circle due to her betrayal, unwilling as it was. Her best hopes are to find an opportunity to escape and hope that neither side decides to chase after her.

It pains Cinder to realize that such an opportunity may only come at the hands of the possibility of a rescue attempt from Emerald. Mercury was too passive to attempt doing so, and Adam Taurus was barely considered an ally at the best of times.

So until that time comes - ignoring that voice in her head telling her that it might never come - she'll endure this humiliation and remember these moments.

"Hey, I don't see those hands scrubbing!"

Her teeth began to grind against each other. She decided at that moment that Qrow will definitely suffer the worst.

* * *

**Another chapter, and this time, with a new month (in-story).**

**I know I'm a day late, and this is released pretty late at night. In my defense, I'm suffering from a slight fever due to the shift in temperature and I just finished one of my midterms recently. And in terms of importance, I rank first and foremost my academics over my health (which is pretty sad on my part). So I spent most of yesterday studying my butt off and most of today recuperating from cramming.**

**(Someone pass me the ****Tylenol. I'm not even sure if it's for the fever or the headaches from cramming.)**

**This chapter totally went in a different direction than I was planning, and it's kinda mostly filler. There are some hints at some upcoming things. Rin experimenting, her taking over Goodwitch's combat class for a week, and Cinder being an unpaid magically-bound indentured servant.**

**I'm still working on this story, and plan on doing so for a long time. But I have to admit that I'm interested in poking into other fandoms for a while. I'm planning on writing another story to make up for the hiatus of my other main story, so that'll take up some of my time. This will still be my main priority though.**

**And I think that's it. Hope none of you are getting sick. Stay indoors and have a nice day.**


	25. Melancholy

**A.N. (11/11/20) - I have a SpaceBattles version of this story now, check it out.**

* * *

Chapter 25 - Melancholy

-9 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

Rin woke up with a start.

Pausing for a moment, it took her a few seconds to recall what she was dreaming about. It was something important though, even if she can't quite recall why. A strange feeling took hold in her chest as she attempted to figure out what was wrong with her.

Sighing to herself, she got up from her bed and began to make her way to the bathroom. It wasn't until she started to change in front of the mirror that she finally realized what that feeling from before was.

She was Rin Tohsaka.

It was something she knew already, but somehow that fact stood out even more today. Staring at herself in the mirror, she took in her appearance.

Although she wasn't exactly as old as the Rin Tohsaka from the original Fate/stay night, she was a close enough age that their appearances were almost identical. She was even dressed in similar enough clothes - a red top and a black skirt - that she was almost an exact copy of the original. If anyone on Earth took a look at her and knew about the Fate franchise, no one would doubt that she looked exactly like Rin Tohsaka.

And yet, the person in the mirror looked like a stranger to her.

Growing up, there were times when Rin felt a strange sense of unnaturalness every time she looked at herself in the mirror. Usually, on those bad days, Rin would feel weird for the rest of that day as she dealt with that strange feeling in her chest.

She shook her head. "C'mon Rin, you shouldn't feel weird about seeing yourself in the mirror. You've already had a few years now to get used to this. Get your head together."

Leaving her room, she paused as she recalled that there was another person who she might be able to talk to about this.

After all, she could just ask if the more experienced reincarnator knew how to deal with this kind of problem.

}-{

"I see," Ozpin muttered. "And have you noticed any other problems with yourself?"

Rin shook her head. "Not that I'm aware of, or at least, none that I can recall at the moment."

Ozpin sighed. "Well, I'm not sure what you were expecting when you came to my door. All I can tell you is that there will always be days like this where such feelings are unavoidable. I can only recommend what I have done in the past to mitigate the effects."

"And what's that?"

He smiled. "Your problem is that you are having trouble holding on to your current identity. You still cling to hints of your past from before you became who you are today." Ozpin poured her another cup of coffee, to which she took a sip out of. "I have a simple solution that might help, as it has done for myself in the past."

He leaned forward. "Take the day off from work today. You're not busy with any projects at the moment, no?" She shook her head. "Then why not meet and interact with Team BRWY and Team AVLN, or even Tukson? Spending time with friends and family should do you some good."

Rin pouted at his words. "I was kinda hoping for better advice than being told to take a break."

Ozpin laughed. "We're a small group of unique individuals plagued with a particular set of problems. Self-diagnosis is always unreliable, and you're the only other person I know who has this particular problem. Unlike a normal identity crisis, our problem is a bit more literal than other cases. Thus, any solution I can think of is based on my own particular set of experiences, which differs quite greatly from yours."

Rin couldn't help but joke, "What? Never turned into a woman before?"

"That's not what I meant," Ozpin said while rolling his eyes. "The memories of my first few reincarnations are vague, having occurred so long ago. But while they were quite similar to your current situation, you do not have one of my disadvantages."

"Which is?"

His eyes turned somber. "The people I took over never disappeared immediately."

Rin winced. As far as she knew, there wasn't anything like an original Rin hanging around in the corner of her soul still. She was Rin Tohsaka, the messy but complete fusion of two different lives. She never had to go through a period where her two lives had to slowly fuse together. It was an immediate process.

The same couldn't be said for Ozpin.

That was the main difference between her and Ozpin, or more accurately, Ozma from his early days. Rin couldn't help but see the similarities between herself and the man from so many years ago. Both had missions given to them by a higher power. Both were granted knowledge that they chose to hid from those that knew them, even for different reasons. Rin hid her knowledge of the future while Ozma hid his knowledge of the Relics. Both felt guilt over hiding their secrets from their loved ones.

But Rin never had to deal with the feeling of slowly subliming another person's sense of identity into themselves. And multiple times even. And Ozpin has been doing this for how long now? Centuries?

"...is this what eternal life is like? You either suffer from an identity crisis or you grow crazy like Salem?"

Ozpin gave a bitter chuckle. "Eternity is never truly as good as it seems."

The two grew silent at that, and both of them had their beverages cool in their hands.

Eventually, Rin sighed. "How did we let our conversation get trailed out of hand like this?" She slowly got up from her seat. "Since your students are in class right now, I'll take a Bullhead to Vale and visit Tukson."

As Rin was about to leave, Ozpin called to her.

"Rin," he hesitated. "I know that we haven't... talked much about our personal problems, even after having known each other for several years. That day when we first met—"

He cut himself off suddenly, lost in thought for a second.

"—at first, I was horrified at the idea that there was someone cursed like me. Knowing that you were different helped soothe that worry, but sometimes, I see something in you that I recognize from my past. I just want you to know... if you ever need to talk about any of this again, you can come to visit whenever you want."

Rin was silent for a moment, taking in his words. To hear Ozpin speak in a way that he's never opened himself up like before.

"...thanks, Dumbledore."

Walking away from his office, Rin noticed Ana beginning to follow her again, having left when Rin entered Ozpin's office.

_'Are you okay?' _asked Ana.

"Not really," Rin answered honestly. "But I'll get better."

Ana didn't continue asking, and Rin felt glad that her Servant didn't wish to pester. Their relationship was still a bit weird in Rin's opinion. Not quite friendly, but caring for each other.

Ozpin did say to hang out with friends and family, so why not Ana? Maybe she can get closer to the quiet young girl.

As she was walking to where the Bullheads were, a thought passed her mind. Her eyes furrowed as Rin realized that Ozpin never answered her question on whether he's ever changed genders before.

Damn, now that thought's gonna nag at her for the rest of the day.

}-{

"Any luck?" Mercury's only reply from the green-haired girl was a frustrated cry. The sound of something smashing into the wall clued him in that Emerald was probably not in a good mood. "Guess not."

"That pig-headed bull is so infuriating. He keeps doing whatever the hell he wants without paying any attention to what I've told him. If Cinder were here..." her voice trailed off at that last part.

Mercury couldn't help but also wince. Yeah, finding out that their boss was taken out really did a number on their cred. Adam's been a bit snippy with them ever since he found out about that, and Emerald was too depressed to do anything about it.

Somehow, Mercury found himself taking the role of substitute leader, to his surprise. Emerald was too snappy and impulsive, which wasn't normally like her. Then again, the girl seemed to go crazy after Cinder never came back. Mercury had a few Lien on the idea that Emerald wasn't taking abandonment so well.

Either way, he wasn't Cinder though. He couldn't control the Grimm, he couldn't contribute to plans, and while good in a scrap, he grudgingly admitted that he wasn't even the best fighter. If it wasn't for the fact that he was the one to convince Tukson to work with them...

Honestly, why is he even here still? The only reason he followed Cinder in the first place was that she looked like she was gonna kill him if he refused to work with her. Now that she's gone, what's stopping him from leaving?

Then again, it's not like he has anything better to do either.

The two of them still have no clue where Cinder was - if she's even still even alive. And while Emerald's idea of storming Torchwood's base and interrogating him for answers seemed like a fun thought, it wasn't really feasible. Might as well keep up this alliance with the White Fang for now and hope for the best. Who knows, Cinder might even come back?

He snorted. Hah, only Emerald's hoping for that particular outcome. Honestly, while the jabs and insults from the White Fang are a bit annoying, he's pretty much okay with everything that's happened so far.

And things are pretty entertaining right now. Apparently, Adam's thinking of taking a small team to go on a mission to Atlas. Something about stealing some robots or whatever.

Either way, as long as he's having fun, Mercury could care less about everything.

}-{

Amber wasn't sure what to make of the events of the past year.

One on hand, she was a super badass powerful Maiden who could control the forces of nature to do as she wished. On the other hand, she was constantly on the run from the forces of evil, causing her to have grown up with limited social interactions with anyone her age due to mostly traveling without settling anywhere for too long.

So the fact that she's been living in Atlas for a few months now still felt strange to her. Especially since she wasn't exactly alone...

"Hello, friend Amber!"

Definitely not alone. Gods, she wishes she was back in the wilderness.

"Hey Penny, I see that you're back." Honestly, Penny wasn't really that bad. Sure, Penny was technically here to keep watch on Amber at all times, for reasons that haven't been explained to her. But since she's literally the only person Amber's allowed to talk to, Amber found herself growing used to the bubbly girl.

"Yup, I've recently had a few of my parts improved to optimal performance. Making me combat ready!"

Parts? "You mean your weapon?"

Penny paused all of a sudden, then slowly nodded with a strange expression on her face. "Yes, I am definitely talking about the improvisation of my external weapons. No upgrades on my personal self at all, nope."

Amber rolled her eyes. Penny definitely had a few screws in her head loose, but she was someone that grew on you. Even if she was a bit much sometimes.

"Actually, I came here to tell you about some good news!" Penny pulled out a rectangular case bound in paper. "I was able to acquire the items you requested during my outing yesterday."

Amber took in a breath, feeling a sense of excitement. "You don't mean..."

"I do mean. I have the complete set of books of the _Harry Potter_ series. The screening process took time, but General Ironwood approved the items himself."

Amber tried not to grimace as she was reminded of the person who was taking care of her.

Or rather, _watching_ over her.

Because seriously, that man is seriously on her case all the time. Keeping several soldiers nearby her at all times, limiting her appearances in public, vetting anyone and everything that comes into contact with her. Sure, he says he's doing it for her protection, but why in the world does she even need protection?

Actually, even now she still has no idea why Qrow told her to stay in Atlas for a while. Literally, all she was told was that Salem's agents were closing in on her location, and suddenly she was on the next plane to Atlas.

But forget all of that, she has books to read!

Amber gingerly took the books away from the other girl. "Thank you so much for this Penny. You don't know how much this means to me."

"Not at all, that is what friends are for." Penny's face turned awkward. "I know that you do not wish to be here. I know that your situation is unfair to you, even if it is all to protect you. I do not wish for your stay here to be unpleasant, even if there is a limit to what I can do."

Amber gently grabbed Penny's. "It's okay, the fact that someone cares is enough."

Sure, this whole situation sucked. But the one good thing that came out of this was that Amber made a friend in Penny. The crazy, weird, unusual, socially incompetent ginger who Amber never would have met if not for this situation.

Penny's face bloomed into a smile. "Oh! I feel like our friend status is being upgraded. Are we now the—" Penny looked around for a moment, before leaning in to whisper to Amber. "—besties?!"

Amber laughed at that. "Sure, why not."

The smile on Penny's face lit her day.

* * *

**A new chapter and I finally introduced Amber and Penny. I mentioned a while ago that Amber had to move to Atlas, which helped protect her from getting killed by Cinder. But since Cinder's technically defeated at this point, I'm thinking of bringing her back to the story when the Vytal Festival comes around. And since Ironwood wants the best possible protection over the Maiden, why not assign the combat robot, Penny, to watch over her.**

**The next chapter's gonna be two weeks from now on 11/25, for those of you who don't check out my profile. If you don't know by this point, I keep a little schedule of when a new chapter is being released on my profile page. But since the website's been acting up since a few weeks ago, I've been meaning to look into other ways of notifying people in case something happens.**

**But that's all from me. Hope everyone enjoys themselves, see ya in two weeks!**


	26. White Fang

**A.N. (11/26/20) - I know, I know. I'm late by a day. My excuse this time is that I was busy doing a week's worth of homework to free up time for the holidays. **

* * *

Chapter 26 - White Fang

-9 Months Before the Fall of Beacon-

* * *

"Thanks for the lift, Pilot Guy."

Said pilot guy gave a mock salute. "Anytime, Miss Tohsaka."

Exiting the ramp and entering Vale, Rin found herself headed towards Tukson's bookstore. Ana walked behind her in her astral state, as there were still people around them. But Rin continued to talk to her through their mental link.

"_You know, I haven't introduced you to Tukson yet. Think you could handle a meeting with him?"_

"_If you want,"_ she replied.

Rin frowned at that. "_Hey, just say no if you don't want to. Just because I call you my Servant, doesn't mean you are one._" Speaking out loud this time, she told Ana, "You're my partner. And as your Master, it is my job to make sure to listen to any of your worries and help you as much as I can."

It took Ana a while for her to respond. "_...maybe later then. I think I'll be able to meet him soon, but not today please."_

"It's fine," Rin said, until she realized that she said that last part out loud while Ana was still invisible. This time speaking through their bond, she continued, "_As long as you make sure to bring up anything you need me to know. Communication is an important part of this relationship, and that goes two ways."_

Ana didn't respond, but she did give a little nod. Rin smiled at that and hoped that this would help improve their relationship from this point on.

In the meantime, Rin was going to meet with Tukson and check up on him. Ever since she started experimenting, she hasn't had time to visit for a while. Might as well take the chance now to visit him.

Passing by a few stores on the way, Rin noted that a few of the shops were already starting to prepare for the upcoming Vytal Festival coming in a couple of months. A few shopkeepers were busy hanging up decorations.

Now that Rin thought about it, isn't Tukson going to be busy too? It wasn't the tiny bookshop that Rin lived in a few years ago anymore. And since Tukson wasn't planning on skipping town anymore, he should have his own preparations for the festival.

By the time the two reached the store, Rin was feeling pretty excited about finally visiting Tukson.

"Huh, what's going on." Rin saw that even though it was in the middle of the day, the shop was closed. Increasing her pace, she stood right in front of the shop and took a look through the glass window. "Weird, even the lights are off."

Feeling slightly concerned, she quickly took a peek at her surroundings before pressing her palm against the door. Manipulating her Prana, she connected to the invisible security system that she set up a long time ago to see what was going on.

"Tukson's not here, or anyone for that matter. No part-timers watching the store or anything." Removing her palm, she took out a key and quickly unlocked the door to enter. Closing the door behind her, she walked to the back of the store and reached underneath a desk to feel for something.

Pulling out a small gem, she sent a burst of magical energy into it and connected to the main core of the security system.

"Familiars One to Three, report for duty." Immediately after issuing that order, three statues of different types of Grimm appeared. A Beowolf, a tiny Nevermore, and a Rapier Wasp, all made out of regular jewelry instead of Dust.

Normally, Rin dealt with Dust as it was simply more convenient to do so. With Dust, Rin didn't need to add as much magical energy as she did with regular jewelry simply because the nature of Dust made it so that it already had its own pool of energy. Adding to the fact that it wasn't as scarce as regular jewelry, making it a lot easier for Rin to acquire, Dust was something she almost used exclusively.

However, the problem with infusing her Prana into Dust was that sometimes she ran the risk of igniting the material in question. While usually not a problem as Rin mostly used Dust to create consumable Mystic Codes, it didn't really work well when trying to make something intended to last for a while. Working around that problem, like she did when she created the Dust blade _Sasaki Kojiro_, wasn't worth the effort for simple security familiars.

So in the end, she made a couple of familiars watch over Tukson in the event of an emergency. And it wasn't even that costly to make either, since Rin made use of her *cough* *cough* favorable connections with a certain gentleman thief to get a great discount.

Rin sent a mental thought to one of her familiars. Extending a finger, Rin allowed the Rapier Wasp to land on her finger before casting 'Structural Analysis' on it.

The spell connected to the records inside the familiar. Reviewing what the familiar saw during the past few hours showed Tukson leaving with an unfamiliar group of Faunus.

"Where are you going Tukson," Rin mumbled under her breath, letting the Wasp fly off while doing so. "Closing the shop in the middle of the day and going out with a group of Faunus. I seriously doubt this is part of your usual efforts in affirmative action."

Placing her hand on the other two familiars and viewing their memories only showed similar images of Tukson leaving with a group of Faunus only a few hours ago. Dismissing them, Rin continued to wonder why Tukson left in the first place.

"_Rin, I found something." _Ana didn't usually interrupt Rin while she was thinking to herself, so the abrupt mental message surprised her. Turning around to see her Servant materialize, Rin saw Ana hold up a white mask.

A mask that she recognized. "The White Fang? What's Tukson doing that has the White Fang involved."

}-{

Tukson couldn't help but complain, "Seriously, where am I going?"

"Mount Glenn." The Faunus male that Tukson tried talking to shrugged his shoulders while he answered. "The boss said to show you where the rest of us are living. Wanted to improve morale to the troops there and show you who's fighting."

"Uh-huh, I got that. Now could you tell me how and why we're traveling through what looks like a tunnel out into the cities?"

A scowl came on the other man's face. "These tunnels were supposed to be subways connecting Vale to the Glenn expansion. They were abandoned and sealed a long time ago when the Grimm overran Glenn, but we managed to open up a few of the tunnels."

From the vehicle they were driving in, Tukson peered outside and saw various bits of construction equipment lying around. "So you guys have been at this for a while?"

"Not really, we've only started about a month ago. We've got enough of this side of the tunnel cleaned up for a small vehicle to go through, but we plan on expanding until it's a bit more accessible."

That raised Tukson's suspicions. "Accessible for what?"

He didn't answer.

They stopped driving when they reached an area unsuitable for a vehicle to travel through and made their way from that point on by foot. After another twenty minutes of traveling like this, Tukson finally started to hear the sounds of construction equipment working.

"This way, the boss is expecting you."

He grunted. "Just making sure. You're talking about Adam, right?"

"Of course," he gave Tukson a confused look. "Who else would I be talking about?"

The memory of an annoying grey-haired bastard and his mint-haired partner came to mind, but he didn't vocalize it. "Never mind, let's just go."

He led Tukson to a small ruined building, one of the few buildings that were completed during the initial construction of the Glenn expansion. Inside was Adam, talking to a few other White Fang members.

Noticing him enter, he quickly dismissed himself from the others and came their way.

"So, what do you think?" he asked directly, gesturing to his surroundings.

"I think that I'm going to need to clear my nose of dust." To emphasize his point, Tukson immediately sneezed after he said that. "Seriously, you should really get somebody to clean this place."

Adam ignored that and started walking past him. The man leading Tukson nudged him to follow, and Tukson resigned himself to the fact that he was probably going to be doing this a lot.

Adam started talking when Tukson started walking by his side. "These brave men and women are all here to volunteer their efforts to the White Fang while risking their lives to the possibility of being attacked by the Grimm. Every day, the accumulated negativity from this land draws in a number of Grimm, and our brave members face off against them in order to safeguard our workers."

They passed by a few of said workers, who paused to stare at the small group pass by them. A few of them seemed to recognize Tukson, having seen him a few times on TV talking with Glynda or the police, and they started to whisper to those around them.

Tukson ignored them for now and spoke to Adam. "I can see that this is a pretty big project. Care to explain what exactly you're having everyone do here?"

Adam smirked. "We're going to create a path so that the Grimm can attack Vale."

.

..

…

Tukson took a moment to see if Adam was kidding. He then took another moment to wonder if the growing headache he was experiencing was going to go away. Sadly, it looks like the answer to both of those was a no.

"Okay," Tukson slowly started with an edge to his voice. "I'm going to wait for you to explain why you think this is a good idea first before I give my opinion on how _stupid_ your plan sounds to me right now."

Adam frowned at the response but replied anyway. "If you want a simple reason, it's to force the White Fang's hand. Currently, our main forces are too passive with only attacking the SDC and other companies. This attack will show that the White Fang is something to be taken seriously, and will incite our brothers and sisters to do more than they are now." He smirked. "Admittingly, this is a gross oversimplification of all the reasons why we're doing this. But you get the point."

Tukson just stared at him.

"You can't be serious." Adam's smirk didn't change. "Oh my gosh, you're actually serious." Tukson couldn't believe it. This plan sounded like it could go wrong in sooo many ways. He had his suspicions ever since he met the bull Faunus, but there's no question now.

Adam is an absolute idiot.

An idiot who had leverage over him.

His response earned him a glare from Adam. "Your complicity in this will end you if revealed, so don't go around telling anyone about this. The troops have seen you walking amongst us, which already makes you complicit."

As if an afterthought, he added, "And according to my advisors, your presence is enough of a morality boost to limit the negativity emitting from our forces. Helps legitimize our actions. So that'll help lower the Grimm attacks."

Tukson knew that he was stuck in a perilous situation. His partnership with Adam was shaky at best and only maintained through blackmail. Still, hopefully, he can de-escalate the situation before Adam actually tries to go through with this stupid plan.

"So, just a thought, how about we _not _attack the once city that's somewhat friendly to Faunus citizens?"

"Vale is hardly friendly," Adam replied through gritted teeth.

"Friendly compared to the other main cities." Tukson raised his hands when Adam glared at him. "I mean, these past few years have been better. I don't mean to brag, but Glynda and I have really helped change a few legislations on Faunus employment and citizen rights. The results are only starting to show, but it looks like things are turning out bright. Have you heard about how there's actually a union being formed based on—"

"Enough of your prattling," Adam interrupted. "I see that you cannot see the genius of my plan."

What genius?! This is seriously the worst plan Tukson's ever heard. What kind of person thinks invading a major city will turn out anything but horribly wrong?! Aren't you supposed to be on the Faunus' side?! Won't hundreds if not thousands of Faunus die because of this plan?

Adam gestured to the man following Tukson. "Take him back for now. Make sure he's ready for our next recruitment. His services will be more of use once we finally acquire the Atlesian Paladins and present our pitch to the Faunus citizens of Vale."

Well, that didn't work out well. Tukson couldn't help but think of how he was supposed to fix this without getting him or Rin killed. Telling Glynda was one option, even if Tukson had no idea how to do so without drawing suspicion on him.

Ugh, his headache from listening to Adam was still annoying him.

* * *

**I just found out today that the Fate/stay night 3rd Heaven's Feel movie hit theaters a week ago, and that there are no more tickets.**

**FUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK!**

**Seriously, are there still any showings available in this country? A five-minute Google search said no, but I'm really hoping I'm wrong. I don't want to wait for the Blu-ray to come out in a few months to watch it. **

**So the White Fang is still planning on attacking Vale. I'm not sure if it was initially Cinder's idea (I haven't watched the first few Volumes in a while) but I figured that Adam was crazy enough to try it anyway. Honestly, I have no idea how to write Adam. I don't really have a high opinion of him in terms of his intelligence or motivations, so hopefully, this isn't really out of character for him.**

**And now Rin's wondering why Tukson is involved with the White Fang. Honestly, I'll try to breeze through this White Fang subplot as fast as I can so that I can reach Volume 2. At this point, I'm a bit unorganized with my thoughts on how I want the direction of this story to go.**

**The next chapter will come out in two weeks if things go according to plan. But I'm really close to my finals, so keep in mind the possibility of a late release. Hopefully, once I'm on school break, I can churn out chapters faster than a bi-weekly rate. But just hold out until then.**


	27. DROPPED

**Author's Note: There's no easy way to start this. I know that I haven't released a chapter yet. Finals were a big deal for a while now, but it wasn't the main reason why I haven't written anything yet.**

**I started writing chapter 27 of this about a week ago, and every possible idea I had for how to move things forward was rejected. I've written myself into a corner and I didn't want to go through the trouble of finding my way around it.**

**This was the first big story and my first passion project that I've written, and I never expected it to go perfectly. Especially since I started writing a Fate crossover with the extreme amount of lore and details involved. So there were gonna be a ton of mistakes that I simply had to live with if I wanted to get anywhere with what I had.**

**But my problem is that even though I know how I want my story to go in the broad strokes, the little details are impossible for me to figure out executing.**

**Simply put, I have a ton of reasons why I don't find this as fulfilling as when I first started. So I regret to inform everyone that I am officially dropping this story.**

**The good news?**

**I'm planning on doing a rewrite. Rin Tohsaka still has another story for her, and I plan on figuring out how my new story idea will go over the next few weeks. The last nine months writing this story will not go to waste, as I plan on hopefully writing something that takes into account all the mistakes I've previously made.**

**I guess that's all I've got to say. ****This is a sad farewell to E-Rin and her story in Vale. ****Thanks so much for everyone supporting me until now, and I'm sorry I couldn't end this on a proper note.**

**Signing off - Mister PurpleBook.**


End file.
